Accidental Emotions
by lustless envy
Summary: Set after the conqueror of Shambala, Ed has made some new friends in this world. Ironically they they resemble people he knew. After making the mistake of going out drinking with him, Ed ended up in an unknown remote city, alone and has also lost his voice. All he has on him is his watch. Ed has become known world wide for his intellect... well... everywhere but here. (Ed x fem oc)
1. Prologue

Why is everything so dark?...

What the hell happened?...

Where am I anyway?...

And where's Al?...

Geeze my head hurts... Oh... That's right. Mustang took me out drinking with the guys from the office. Well that at least explains why all I can smell is booze...

It's cold, I'm soaked and I can hear the rain and feel the wind so I'm certainly outside...

"Excuse me...Are you alright? You know, you'll drown if you lie down face first on the pavement like that while it's raining. Let me help you."

That's a girls voice... Damn I ache like a bitch... Hmm... It is a girl... With an umbrella too. Doesn't hurt to accept.

"Whats wrong? Cat got your tongue?"

I know she's smiling but with the rain and this headache I can't see a thing... And why can't i answer her...? Urgh... That's her hand... Geeze my automail is buggered... But she's taken it... I can't help but feel oddly safe with her.

Set after the conqueror of Shambala, Ed has made some new friends on this new world. The irony that one of the people who've clung to him is Roy Mustang's double should have warned him not to go drinking with him on his twentieth birthday. Unfortunately he did and has ended up in an unknown remote city, alone and has also lost his voice. All he has on him to show any identification is his pocket watch, which he fixed when he started studying science to try to figure out why Alchemy didn't work in this world. It seems that everywhere Ed has become known for his intellect... well... everywhere but here in this backwater city full of violent morons.


	2. Chapter One

'Damn... I must have passed out again...Well, at least I'm warm and dry now...'

"Oh, hey. Glad you're awake. Your coat was filthy so I've washed it. It's drying right now but other than that I've left you clothed." the girl smiled at Ed. "I hope you don't mind but I brought you back to my place, I simply couldn't leave you out in the cold and rain in the middle of the night like that." she added. "You've slept most of the day, it's already half two, but you must have needed it and I'd be surprised if you don't have a hangover or at least a headache."

Ed opened both his eyes to watch the girl as she spoke. It was only as she moved away to tend to the whistling kettle somewhere behind her that he took notice of his surroundings. It was a small and quite a bare studio flat. He realised that, while he was lying on a clean double mattress with clean sheets and a nice smelling duvet, the mattress was simply placed on the floor as it didn't have a frame. The whole place was really very clean but in dire need of an update, a lick of paint, and some money spent on it... Why, her front door didn't even seem to have a lock on it.

Being a studio flat, the kitchen area was to his left with a small sink. It had a compact oven and hob, a very small fridge under the work top, an equally small washing machine beside the fridge and a little bit of space for preparation work to the side with a few cupboards above them. Beside the bed area there was a door that Ed assumed lead to the bathroom as there wasn't a window in the door. Just next to the kitchen area there was a fireplace that looked like it was in good use but, like the rest of the flat, it was spotless. The front door was a foot or so away on the same wall. On the wall opposite, that seemed to be the back wall, there was another door that looked like it lead out onto a fire escape. The wall to his right, that the back door was on, was the only one with windows and let a lot of nice light into the room. The high ceiling helped make it look more spacious but it was still quite a box. There was no table, no chairs and, much to Ed's dismay, not a book in sight.

"Here... I'm not sure how you take your tea but I've put quite a bit of sugar in it to help get your energy back. And if you're hungry then I can make you something to eat if you like?" the girl asked Ed as she knelt beside the bed with the tea. She put the slightly chipped cup on the floor and helped sit Ed up before giving him the cup. Ed's stomach growled loudly, causing him to blush in embarrassment. The girl just giggled, "I'll take that as a 'yes please' then. I'll fix you some nice stew." she said happily as she got up to go cook for him. It was only as the girl gave the cup to Ed that he realised his arm wasn't attached. It made him feel nervous but as she was just a girl he figured he'd be ok. Regardless of his hangover and splitting headache, she was just a girl so, even if he didn't usually work out, Ed knew he'd have the upper hand... even if it was only one.

With the girl preoccupied, Ed studied her carefully while he sipped his tea. She had black hair tied in a tight bun at the base of her neck with a fringe that was parted to the side and hung loose but looked like she attempted to clip it down to the side. She was wearing a dark purple rara skirt with a slit down one side and a nice fitting crisp white blouse with three quarter sleeves tucked into it. She had black and white horizontal chunky striped stockings on that stopped about four inches from the skirt and currently nothing on her feet but a red scarf tide around her wrist. She wasn't much taller than five foot which made Ed feel a little better about it. If the situation turned ugly, given her petite build, he already knew he could pin her down if needed. She also seemed to be around twenty years old and quite happy-go-lucky; he couldn't see Winry, Sheshka or even Rose taking in a strange man like she had. She was also painfully obviously very poor which made Ed feel awkward accepting anything from her, though the cleanliness of the place suggested she had a hint of O.C.D. But out of everything, it was her large, gentle eyes that had caught his attention first. They were the most curious shade of purple with a blue inner ring around the pupil that seemed to marble out into the purple. What's more is the strange calming effect he had felt wash over him when he had first woken up in this strange place and his eyes had met hers.

"Here... It's nothing special but its full of goodness and will make you feel better." the woman said taking a bowl of stew over to Ed with a spoon, her skirt swaying as she moved. "I'm afraid your arm came off when I moved you so if you need help eating then just let me know." she said with a smile. Clearly she was expecting a response but Ed just couldn't find his voice so he put his tea cup down, accepted the bowl and slowly started eating. The woman might not have thought much of her cooking but Ed thought it was marvellous. He'd always had stew made with milk but this was made with a thick gravy and had some strange looking bread things in it but it was delicious. "It's beef stew with dumplings." She said to answer his silent question of 'what is it?'.

"My name is Francesca but people call me Frankie. What's your name?" she asked curiously. Ed looked at her. Francesca didn't suit her at all, it sounded old, boring and predictable. Frankie sounded a little better but at the same time it seemed a little too masculine for such a girly girl. If Winry wore pants instead of a skirt then she would suit such a boyish name... but as Ed couldn't find his voice, he kept it to himself. Ed looked around then, putting his spoon in his bowl so he could use his only hand, he gestured for a pen and paper, figuring he could write an answer to her question. "Oh! Paper and a pencil? I can get you those but even if you write your name down... I won't be able to read it..." Frankie said, blushing this time and looking away in embarrassment, "I was never taught to read or write so... I'm kind of useless... Sorry." Ed face-palmed, almost tipping his stew up in the process but Frankie leaned forwards and caught it. "I am really sorry... It must be terribly frustrating for you." she sighed, still not looking at him, but didn't stay gloomy for long. "I know! Tomorrow I'll take you to see a friend of mine! He can read and write very well and he's very smart too! So I'm sure he can help and then we should be able to get you back home too!" she beamed. "Just stick with me for now, this city is full of nasty, cruel people but I'll take care of you!" she promised. Ed wasn't certain. It seemed like, if anything, Frankie needed someone to take care of her rather than let her take care of anyone.

Even though she had just stated she couldn't read or write, Frankie still got some paper and a pencil for Ed. "Here. Write down whatever you want and I'll keep it on me for tomorrow, ok?" she smiled happily. Ed furrowed his brow, not understanding why she wanted him to do this since she couldn't read it, but he started writing his name on the paper anyway, mentally thankful he'd learned to write again with his left hand when he had first lost his right arm in the accident all those years ago.

That brought back memories and he glanced at his broken Automail arm that lay beside the bed, remembering the failed human transmutation when he and his little brother had tried to resurrect their mother. Then came the worry of where is Al? and what was he was doing now? and was he still with Roy? And what had happened that night? and what had happened to Roy? not that he cared, but if anyone knew what had happened that night then Roy would...

"Everything ok?" Frankie asked, looking concerned. Ed snapped back to the present, his eyes wide in surprise and opened his mouth to reply but nothing came out so he closed it again and nodded. He handed her the paper back with his name scrawled on it and started eating again feeling terrible. Thinking about his failures always put him in a bad mood and made him depressed but this time there was no Al to help him feel better... just this Frankie girl, whoever she was.

Frankie didn't look convinced but, since he wouldn't or couldn't answer her there was little reason to persist and ask him what was wrong. So, instead, Frankie sat back on her heels, giving Ed space to eat, and stared at the paper in her hand that had his name on it. She frowned as she tried to memorise every line, almost wishing that the words would jump out at her.

Finally she spoke again, "You understand me don't you?" she asked softly, looking up at Ed. Ed looked at her and nodded. "So you just can't speak for whatever reason. Hmm... Well, Since I don't know your name, would it be ok if I give you a temporary name? That way I can get your attention and you'll know when I'm speaking to you... Is that ok?" she asked with a gentle blush, feeling stupid for having to ask.

Ed frowned, he wasn't certain but she had a good point so nodded reluctantly. Frankie smiled softly, "Well... The easiest name for me to remember is my brothers. He was called Alfred. I'd call him Freddy but he used to hate it because father's name was Fred...so I'll just call you Al. It seems to suit you." she smiled happily. Ed was slightly surprised. Out of all the names in the world, she managed to choose his little brother's name for him. But after a moment considering it he smiled. There were worse things she could have called him and a lot of names that could have set him off on a rant... not that he could shout and scream in anger with his lack of voice.

"You like it?" Frankie asked a little surprised. Ed nodded making the girl smile widely. "Great! You just wait and see, Al, I might not be the smartest but I know enough people who know other people who should be able to help you! Someone in this crumby city must know who you are and where you came from." she said, obviously thrilled to be of help to him. Seeing how content she was when it came to helping others and how calm and relaxed she was around a strange boy Ed didn't doubt for a second that Roy would have had a field day if he met her. She was just too easy, even Ed could tell that much.

But he smiled all the same, her smile being infections and her happiness just as much. 'Whoever holds her heart is a lucky guy... he must be ridiculously smart to make up for lack of intellect and strong too to make up for her weakness... but he's still quite lucky.' Ed couldn't help but think to himself as he found himself smiling.

"Anyway, how's your food? Do you like it?" she asked. Ed nodded slowly as he continued to eat, and he wasn't lying. He'd already made a mental note to ask her for the recipe when he got his voice back so the real Al Elric could try it some time. "That's great. Oh! Tell you what, I'll go run you a bath then while you're bathing I can wash your clothes. Would you like that?" she asked. Ed wasn't sure. He still didn't trust her fully but, glancing down and seeing the terrible state of his clothes and how he stunk of booze he gave in and nodded.

"Ok, I'll go run you one." she said getting up to do so. Ed watched her leave the room, her hips shaking side to side as she went, his eyes following her, he sighed, 'Too eager to help... it's making me nervous that she isn't more defensive and guarded.' he thought. 'I mean, how does she know I won't beat her up, rape her, kill her or something?' he thought but as the sound of running water came from the bathroom Ed forgot all of that as he felt a sudden need to pee. All that booze last night had finally made it's way to his bladder and now he felt like it was going to explode.

Slowly and gingerly he pulled himself to his feet and struggled over to the bathroom door. Frankie looked up at him from the surprisingly big bath as she was putting a bubble bath mix into the running hot water. "Oh, hi Al. Everything ok?" she asked. Ed bit his lip but looked worried and pointed out of the door. "Is someone out there?" she asked, getting to her feet and smoothing down her skirt. Ed shook his head hard and pointed again, his cheeks red, he couldn't hold it.

Giving up he turned to face the toilet, trying to use his body as a shield to keep her from seeing, and struggled with his zipper but it was stuck in the material. "Oh... you gotta go. It looks stuck... here." Frankie said, surprising Ed by putting her hand around his hip, her other hand on his back for support, and taking the zip with her fingers. Ed caught hold of her wrist in shock and looked at her. "Do you want to pee yourself? Or will you let me help this much?" she asked gently, her lips close to his ear. "I can't hurt you Al..." she added softly and almost a little sadly that he didn't want her help even though he needed it. Ed felt awful and blushed hard as he found himself suddenly glancing down her cleavage and felt even worse when he realised he was hurting her by how tight he had hold of her wrist so he let go. Frankie pulled the zip down and left the bathroom quickly so Ed could finish unbuttoning his boxers and could finally relieve himself without incident.

Frankie stood behind the door rubbing her wrist and wondering if she'd pushed him too much. Ed finished and buttoned his boxers up but let his pants fall to the floor then, double checking for his pocket watch which was currently missing and making sure he was decent enough, he slowly opened the bathroom door. "All done?" Frankie asked. Ed nodded and moved back so she could come in, which she did. "If you give your clothes to me I'll wash them for you while you're in the bath if you like." Frankie said. Ed shrugged and handed her his pants then tried undoing his jacket but struggled doing so with just his one hand so, with a frown, took Frankie's hand and put it to his jacket.

"Not so shy then?" Frankie giggled softly as she undid his jacket then, with some more gestures from Ed, she helped him remove his black tank top too. Ed secretly checked his clothes for his watch as she helped undress him. Seeing his scaring she took a sharp intake of breath. Ed waited for the 'oh my gosh! What happened? Are you ok? Do you need to go to the hospital?!' usual rubbish remarks and annoying questions...but they never came. Instead, Frankie picked up all his clothing and took them out of the bathroom. "Drop your underpants outside the door for me to wash ok?" she said, her back to him. Ed felt quite confused by her lack of reactions, she'd seemed to even ignore his left automail leg.

Ed shook his head and removed his boxers before shyly handing her them from behind the bathroom door. Frankie took them and started doing the washing. Ed heard the washing machine start as he slipped into the bath, groaning silently as the hot water eased his aching joints and muscles. He was more than used to suppressing his own personal sexual desires so it came as a bit of a shock to him that thinking about his interactions with Frankie was turning him on. At the time he'd done little more than blush but now he was starting to get hard. This was something Ed DEFINITELY didn't want Frankie to see or realise as he assumed it would lead to her believing that he'd fallen for her and the last thing he wanted was for her to become clingy...or for him to accidentally upset her boyfriend if she had one.

After a while in the bath Ed heard the washer stop but before Frankie could have possibly had chance to get out his wet clothes the front door was thrown open and a man started screaming at her, "Where the fuck is he?!" Frankie must have been in shock as she didn't reply. "I said, where the fuck is he you fuckin whore?!" he continued screaming at the top of his deep voice.

Frankie must have backed away from the front door as he was now stomping towards the bathroom door. "I... I don't know who you're talking about." Frankie protested but her voice was calm. It saddened Ed but the calm made him think she was used to this. "You know who the fuck I'm talking about, slut!" he continued to shout though his face must have been right up to hers by now and Ed heard him slam his fists against the door, one each side of her head it seemed by the sound on the door. "No, I don't... you've been smoking and drinking again, haven't you? Your breath stinks." Frankie said the softly. Ed heard a sharp slap and realised that the comment hadn't been missed by Frankie's male visitor. "Yes! You do! You know full well I HATE you bringing boys back here! When I find the bastard I'll gut the little prick alive! You want his pathetic little dick so bad I'll cut it all off and then you can keep it!" he snarled. "And I KNOW he's here! Otherwise, what the fuck is this?"

Ed could only guess what he had picked up at first but what the broad shouldered, ridiculously muscular man had picked up was Ed's right automail arm. "This! This is how I know he's here!" he snapped, waving the metal limb in front of her face. "I found that last night on my way home from the job... I was pissed and it looked interesting..." she said lying, knowing better than to tell the truth. Last time she'd brought a boy home the man had turned up, killed the boy, beaten her black and blue then dumped her half dead miles away to leave her to get back on her own. The boy they had killed had been her brother. So Frankie knew better than to tell him the truth.

The man wasn't certain but smirked and chuckled, "Well, if this doesn't belong to anyone, how about I have some fun and fuck you with it?" He asked, brushing the lifeless, cold, metal fingers across her cheek, then down her chest, using the fingers to run along the edge of her shirt so they dipped into her cleavage along her breasts. "Don't be disgusting. You don't know where that's been." Frankie said with disgust. Fortunately the man believed her and chuckled, "Hahaha, you and your fuckin' clean obsession!" he laughed.

After that Ed couldn't hear any more talking and hoped at first that the man had simply left. But as a husky grunting noise came from behind the door he realised that wasn't the case. Ed tried to ignore any more sounds but as hard as he tried to ignore it the more he heard it and, to make it worse, when he closed his eyes, his mind would make up what was happening on the other side of the bathroom door. He knew it was impossible for him to know exactly what was going on but his mind told him otherwise; he could hear that man's right hand graze up Frankie's thigh, pushing her skirt up as his body pressed against hers to keep her still. His lips were on her neck, biting, his left hand squeezing her breast. He didn't know how he knew but he felt certain that's what was happening. And, when moments later there was banging on the door, Ed felt sick as he knew that man was fucking her, showing his favorite word was also his favorite hobby.

Frankie stayed deadly silent, not wanting Ed to have to hear anything as the man grunted and panted louder as he raped her. Ed hoped it was her boyfriend and that the sex was wanted but could guess that it wasn't so. He knew that, while he couldn't physically ask her about it, he already knew Frankie would say it was just sex... the fact it was unwanted on her part didn't matter... she was used to it so wouldn't say against the man.

"Easy as ever," The man laughed when he'd done. Ed thought he heard the man zip up his pants as he walked away back to the front door, his footfalls echoing as he walked. "Never say I don't give you nothing!" he said before slammed the door behind himself. Ed was expecting to hear sobbing, crying, screaming... anything. But Frankie didn't say a thing. She fixed her hair, smoothed out her clothes then went to get Ed's wet clothes out of the washer, taking what the man had left on her work surface and throwing it in the bin as she passed. "Soaked... if only I could have hung them out or asked downstairs to put them in their dryer before he showed up." she muttered to herself.

Ed pulled the plug to empty the bathwater out. He then opened the bathroom door, the towel around his waist and held in place with his left hand. He watched Frankie pick his clothes out of the washing machine and stand up. It seemed his mind had been right in thinking the man had been biting at her neck as there were three clear bite marks on her neck. There was a distant look in her eyes that said she hadn't wanted any of that from that man. Ed stayed perfectly still and Frankie didn't see him at first as she went outside, down the steep concrete stairs, and hung the laundry out. Ed watched her as she went, hating that he had spotted that man's cum dripping down the inside of Frankie's leg.

Frankie looked back towards Ed and her eyes widened in surprise, "Al, your clothes are still soaked. Go back inside, you'll catch your death of cold in just that little towel." she said, finishing hanging out his clothes then walking back up towards him. She looked away, not wanting to embarrass him further. "Didn't you see the big fluffy towel? That small one was for your hair and the big one was for your body." she chuckled softly as she went inside after him. "Here, swap the towels over while i try to find my bathrobe, it should be more comfortable." she explained. "Oh, and I found a watch in your coat pocket before I washed it. It's on the work top."

Ed sighed silently, resisting the strong urge to go and get the watch to see if she'd opened it or tampered with it and took the towel from her, watching her leave the bathroom before he went back into the living space. Frankie was at the built in wardrobe, stood on her tiptoes, trying to reach something. While Ed had swapped the towels Frankie had cleaned herself up and was now trying to get the fluffy white bathrobe down from the top shelf in the wardrobe.

Ed took a few steps towards her, wondering if she'd let him help. The floor squeaked, making Frankie look round at him but in doing so all the covers on the top shelf came tumbling down on top of her making her cry out a little in surprise. Ed laughed silently and knelt down to help as Frankie tried to fight her way out of the mound of bedding and linen. By now, Frankie was laughing too. Finally Ed caught some of the opening and found Frankie, her eyes meeting his... He also found that she had tried to move the cover at the same time so he was left holding her hand.

Because of the friction from the covers, Frankie's hair had come loose and, as she quickly stood up, the rest of the cloth falling away from her body, the tie keeping her tied up fell out. Her hair cascaded down her back as it fell loose. It was a gorgeous raven black so was a beautiful shade of blue when the light caught it and complimented her eyes beautifully. It also helped along by the cute blush on her cheeks as she felt embarrassed by literally bringing all the linen down on top of herself.

Frankie picked up the white bathrobe she'd been trying to get and handed it to Ed quickly then turned her back to him and started tying her hair back up into the bun. Realising she didn't have the tie she started looking for it on the floor, one hand holding her bun in place as she looked for it. Ed had picked it up as it had fallen away from her when she'd stood up and now was still knelt there, holding it out on his little finger for her. Finally Frankie noticed and looked at him, her eyes meeting his, he could almost feel how embarrassed she felt. "Oh... Thanks Al." she mumbled, taking the hair tie from his finger and quickly using it to tie her hair in place.

Ed went into the bathroom again to put the bathrobe on while Frankie tied her hair up, removing the towel when it was fastened securely and putting the towel in the laundry basket in the corner. He then came out and tried to help her fold and put the cloth and linen back on the top shelf, smirking as they both had to stand on their tiptoes to reach and Frankie giggled softly, seeing that he struggled as much as she did. It was nice to have found their common ground.

Once everything was away Frankie straightened out her shirt as it had rode up a little with her stretching then went to make tea. Ed sat down feeling exhausted. All he'd done was eat and take a bath and try help put things away but he was shattered! He hadn't ever had a hangover before but he found this one to be exhausting. He watched Frankie as she fussed about, making tea again. Where ever this city was, you could tell it was still in England just from the tea-drinking habits even if you didn't hear the odd but enticing dialect from a local like Frankie. He wished Frankie would come and tell him exactly what had happened while he'd been in the bath, he still felt nervous about that man he hadn't even seen and even a little worried about her personal safety too from how threatening he'd sounded. But she didn't mention it and he literally couldn't ask.

Frankie brought the tea over for Ed, handing it to him in such a way that he could take the handle as she sat down on the window sill and gazed outside. "The wind is blowing strong and the sun is strong and bearing down so your clothes should be dry in a while." she told him as she sipped her tea. "I'll make Tea for us in a little while and after we should have an hour before bedtime. I'll bring the clothes in while you get changed. I'm quite a chunk so you should be able to fit into my p.j bottoms at least." she smiled. Frankie was in no way a 'chunk' if that was implying to her weight... though with the British it was hard to tell some times what they were talking about especially as she had just said she would make both of them tea in a little while...even though they were currently drinking tea. But, given their closeness in height Ed figured he should just about fit the pants she was talking about... though he didn't think to question what she'd wear.

Ed drank his tea, wishing he could tell her he preferred black coffee to milky tea, and watched her as she took the vegetables out of the fridge and started preparing the vegetables for their meal. After the second courgette had been chopped she stopped and looked towards Ed with a slight frown. "Hey Al? I know you can't answer me with words but is there anything here that you don't like?" she asked curiously. Ed moved away from the window and stood close beside Frankie to look at the food on the work surfaces. It was all fresh veg with a little bit of what he presumed to be beef that was still marinating in a bowl. Having looked at all the ingredients he shook his head. He wasn't used to a few of the veg but was willing to at least try it and there wasn't a drop of milk in sight. "So it all looks good to you?" Frankie asked, glancing over her shoulder at him with a smile. Ed smiled back and nodded. It all looked fresh and quite good... then he made the mistake of glancing down, his eyes following a piece of courgette that jumped towards Frankie as she cut it.

It was suddenly very obvious to Ed now why pervy men liked short girls as he found himself looking down her cleavage once again. He had wanted to turn away quickly, his cheeks burning as he felt embarrassed about it, but his eyes had caught sight of the bright red marks on her left breast. He knew immediately who had caused it and couldn't help but glare as he realised that it would bruise as it was already going slightly purple.

"Erm... See something you like?" Frankie asked softly. She'd stopped chopping when she'd realised he was still just standing there and thusly found him to be looking down her top. Ed jumped back in shock, his hands raised defensively as he tried to say 'it's not what it looks like!' but obviously no words came out. Frankie giggled softly, "Its fine Al. Don't be embarrassed. I don't mind you staring, it's not like you'd do anything to me, right?" she asked with a gentle smile. Ed felt his face go bright red as he stared at his feet in embarrassment.

Frankie shook her head, still smiling, and went back to chopping the vegetables while Ed wondered how he had gotten away with looking down a girls' shirt and not been given so much as a slap or punch for doing so. Winry would have knocked him senseless and Rose would have slapped him hard. Even a scream of anger, outrage or horror would have been something but Frankie didn't react the way he was used to. He knew this world was different to his own but even this lack of reaction confused him.

Ed kept his distance and sipped his tea as he watched Frankie finish the prep work and start cooking. "I hope you're hungry Al. And I hope you like stir-fry too." she smiled over her shoulder at him as she put the wok on the hob. Ed felt himself blush as he nodded. He didn't get how she could be so relaxed? Not when she'd practically just caught him peeping down her shirt. But Frankie wasn't bothered. Ed hadn't touched her and his body language towards her had told her enough that he wasn't a threat towards her. From his place by the windows, Ed watched her cook and soon the delicious smells had him drooling.

"Ok, all done." Frankie said happily as she served the stir fry up on a couple of plates for Ed and herself. She cut up the beef and vegetables up on Ed's plate, so he would find it easier to feed himself, and took it over to him along with a fork. Ed smiled gratefully but glanced away to avoid looking down her top again as she put the plate down on his lap to make it easier for him to hold onto it. Frankie then got her own plate and sat on the floor near him to eat. Just like with the stew, Ed was surprised at how good it tasted even though it had been so quick and easy looking to make. "Tomorrow morning we'll go see a good friend of mine alright? He can read and write and is nice so he should be able to help you." she smiled. Ed just smiled and nodded but he still didn't look up at her. He'd already decided to leave that night.

When they had finished eating Frankie took their plates to the sink but paused, "Al? Do you want any more?" she asked. Ed nodded eagerly so Frankie put more on his plate, cut it like before, and took it to him then went outside to bring the laundry in. While she was outside Ed finally put the lamp that stood in the corner on as it had quickly turned dark. Frankie came in with the clothes and started putting logs on the small fire hearth and went about lighting it. She then hung up Ed's clothes in such a way that they wouldn't crease or smell from the fire as they dried. "There! They should be done by morning at the latest." she told him. Then she started washing up. Ed went over to help. Taking the tea towel, he started drying the plates and cups after Frankie had washed and rinsed them. It was nice to help her out and repay her kindness a little, even if not by much.

When they were done she put it all away then she started to hunt around one of her draws and pulled out a pair of pj bottoms. "Here, go get changed in the bathroom ok? I'm afraid I don't have a spare toothbrush, but you're welcome to use mine if you really want to." she said, giving them to him. Ed didn't look too impressed by her offer but went to change in the bathroom all the same, just glad to be free of the fluffy white bathrobe. He put the offensively fluffy bathrobe in the laundry basket, as he had done with his towels before.

When Ed came out of the bathroom Frankie was just finishing buttoning up the last button on her nightshirt. It hung just below her hip so only just hid her panties from view but left her long legs in full view. Even without touching her skin, he knew her skin was soft, smooth but toned. Ed swallowed hard and went over to the bed. Frankie closed the curtains as he settled down to sleep. He turned away from her as he felt the other side of the bed dip slightly. "Sorry about this Al..." she whispered, having turned the lamp off. With the gentle flicker of soft light from the fireplace and the nice smell from the duvet Ed couldn't help but fall asleep.

He woke around midnight to find her sat up, on top of the duvet still though he hadn't realised she wasn't under the covers till now, fixing up his arm. At first Ed thought to scald her but he soon realised that she seemed to know what she was doing as she'd use a small watch battery to send an electric current through the arm to test his fingers were working. Ed smiled a little and settled down beside her, feeling a little bit more relaxed around her. When he woke up next Frankie had fallen asleep. She was still sat up, her head tipped forwards, his automail arm lying on her lap still, the cool metal on the warm flesh... Ed shook his head hard and picked up the arm. Carefully he got out of the bed, his eyes stuck on Frankie in case she woke up, He managed to slip into the bathroom without waking her then, carefully and taking his time, he tried reconnecting his arm. It hurt like hell as always and, to make it worse, he missed one of the connections. Silently swearing like a sailor, Ed only just managed to pull his arm back off and knelt on the floor in agony, dropping the automail limb to hold the stump where the connections were.

"Al? Is everything ok?" Frankie's voice came through the door, making Ed look up in shock. Frankie gave it a moment then opened the door. Ed just stayed kneeling on the floor, holding his stump, his automail before him and tears in his eyes. "Oh Al..." she said softly walking over and kneeling behind him. She used her sleeve to wipe his eyes before a tear could fall then picked up the arm and looked at it, "Do you want help?" she asked. Ed shook his head. "It's not rocket science Al. I'm pretty sure I can connect it up again for you." She said. Ed frowned, not sure at all but, as before he gave in. Frankie knelt on his left hand side, pressing her body against his arm, her arms around his front and back. She lined the shoulder up. "Ok, take a deep breath and grab my arm if you need." she whispered softly. Ed closed his eyes and took a deep breath, leaning against her. For once he was actually purposefully thinking of a girl's chest as Frankie pulled the arm into place. As before, it hurt like a bitch and yet... somehow it was bearable. It was possibly because she'd given him enough support, possibly because he was still sleepy, maybe because he'd been expecting it or it could have been because he had just felt the same pain... though it was likely because he'd turned his head towards her and buried his face in her chest. What straight guy wasn't distracted by breast?

"There... you ok now?" she asked letting go of his automail arm and sitting back on her heels. Ed looked at his metal limb and flexed his fingers one at once and his whole arm to check the connections. He nodded looking at his arm still. He turned to smile at Frankie and saw his arm sitting comfortable between her breasts, his hand sitting nicely between her thighs. Ed's cheeks flared red and he tried to move his arm away so quickly that he fell back. "Al? Are you alright?" she asked looking at him as he was sprawled on the floor now and he struggled to get up.

Ed nodded quickly as he got to his feet. Frankie stood up too, "I'm glad you're ok... I'll go get your clothes. They should be dry by now." she told him. Ed frowned in confusion as she went to the bathroom door. "I'm not very well learned but I'm not stupid Al. I know you were planning on leaving at night. Why else do you think I tried so hard to make sure everything was ready for you?" she asked, looking over her shoulder at him. Ed felt bad and looked away as he rubbed his arm."It's fine. Don't worry ok? I'm not used to people wanting to be around me so it's odd for me to have you here too." she said leaving the room.

Ed rolled his eyes in annoyance but followed her out and put his hand on her shoulder, to get her attention. When she looked at him he shook his head, took his jacket off her and turned her back towards the bed. "I... I'm not sure I follow.,.?" Frankie said, not sure what he wanted from her. Ed hung his jacket back up then, from behind, Ed pushed Frankie gently towards her bed then pointed at it.

"Bed? What about it? Al, I can sleep when you've gone," she said, turning to face him. Ed was getting annoyed by now so, with one arm around her shoulder, his hand on her back, he used his other arm to sweep her legs to the side which resulted in him picking her up bridal style. Being careful, ed put her down on the bed so she was lying down. She'd only gasped when he'd picked her up and, though she had wanted to, she hadn't dared hold onto him for support. Once she was lying on the bed Ed pulled the covers over her and got into bed beside her, also under the covers.

"Are you sure this is ok?" Frankie asked. Ed was surprised to see she was blushing hard and looking awkward too. "I've never slept with a boy before... I don't want to get in trouble." she explained. Ed shook his head; she had had sex before, seen men naked, let her own body be seen naked too... But out of all that, something as innocent as lying besides a man and going to sleep, nothing sexual, was what worried her?

Ed turned his back towards Frankie and lay on his side, hoping it would give her piece of mind. Unfortunately he soon started to regret this choice as lying on automail is NOT comfortable by anybodies standards. After half an hour he gave up lay on his front, his arms folded under the pillow, but after a while of lying there, staring up at the ceiling, curiosity gripped him and he glanced over at Frankie. As there was only one pillow on the bed, and Frankie had insisted that Ed take it, she was lying on her side with her head resting on her arm, her long hair loose and flared out behind her on the bed. she looked so peaceful and surprisingly younger too. If he hadn't already decided it for himself and known that she already had a something of a sex life with a boyfriend, albeit that he was an undeserving, dominant bullying type, he would have guessed she was around sixteen years old rather than twenty. Being as quiet as he could, Ed sat up and then, being as gentle as he could in not wanting to wake her up, he moved the pillow over to Frankie and somehow managed to lift her head onto it.

Frankie moved a little bit but didn't wake up. Ed smiled a little to himself as he settled down closer to her to sleep. He finally decided that he didn't care if she was actually able to help him or not as he felt sure he would be able to help himself, which he always did regardless of who was around or the situation... but for some reason he felt the least he could do was to allow her to believe she was helping. After all, she clearly didn't have any ill intentions towards him and so far all she had done was try her hardest to help him. And though she had so little she had been more than willing and and even happy to share what she had with him. So it was with that content and satisfied feeling, Ed fell into a deep and peaceful sleep.


	3. Chapter Two

The next morning Ed woke up alone in the bed. He'd sprawled out and ended up with his head where Frankie had been sleeping. He was almost grateful that Frankie wasn't in bed as he'd woken up to find he was hard, something that was rarer than an Elric attempt at human transmutation. He slowly sat up, yawned and stretched then rubbed his eyes and looked about for the missing girl. But Frankie really wasn't anywhere in sight. Slowly, Ed got out of bed and had a quick look around the room, glancing out of the window even in case she was outside again. But she wasn't.

Without even thinking to check the bathroom, Ed collected his now dry clothes and went into the bathroom to wash his face and change, closing the door behind himself. It was only when he turned around that he finally got to see Frankie. He also got to see a lot of her skin as she'd just been getting out of the bath when he'd walked in. She'd grabbed a towel and was holding it to her chest in a rushed attempt to keep her dignity and, since she'd just got out of the bath, her hair was soaked and loose. Ed's cheeks turned bright red and he felt his cock harden, straining against the p.j bottoms that just reminded him that the pants he was in were hers.

"S...sorry! I woke early and couldn't get back to sleep so i thought I'd get a bath while you were sleeping... I didn't mean to wake you." Frankie bowed her head as she apologised. Ed stiffly put his arms by his side and bowed back from the waist, even though it was difficult due to how hard he was, trying to apologise in return. "Bowing like that, you almost seemed oriental Al." Frankie chuckled softly. "You don't have to apologise though, Al. It's my fault for not locking the door or warning you." she said. Ed stood up again, as bowing was too painful, and was a little bit embarrassed but couldn't help but look her up and down not that Frankie seemed to mind.

He felt like he'd been staring for hours at her, taking in her wet, pale, soft and silky skin, her enticing curves, those lovely long legs, her sloping shoulders... He spotted the mark, now a bruise, that the man from the other night had left on her breast and felt a little bitter. But the bitterness passed and he groaned silently and swallowed hard as she licked and bit her lip,

As much as Ed had stared at her, Frankie had been staring back at him. Ed's body was different to what she was used to. His torso was toned, with defined abs and had a slight tan to it and all were there naturally without use of a gym or sun bed. A couple of blonde hairs sat on his chest and she was surprised to find his scars endearing even enticing. Her eyes followed his torso down to his naval but from there it was a trail of fine blonde pubic hairs that drew her eyes to his pants. Seeing how his pants tented out sent a shiver over her body and she found herself lick her lips and then bite her bottom lip. "Well... I'll leave you to get dressed." She said then rushed from the bathroom, leaving Ed alone and closed the door behind her.

She stood there, holding the towel to her chest as she tried to slow her racing heart. What the hell was wrong with her? She'd never had a man get to her like that before! And he hadn't even been naked or said anything! She stared down at her feet as she closed her eyes and tried to think it through... she felt wet, not from the bath, but from Ed... and all he'd done was look at her body!

She shook her head hard and went to get clean clothes from her built in wardrobe, abandoning the clothes she'd taken into the bathroom with her when she'd gone for a bath. Even if her body had reacted to him... even if he had made her want him by just standing there and looking, it didn't mean he wanted her. And even if he did want her sexually, he didn't love her. With that thought she finally relaxed and pulled a fresh pair of panties on and a nice bra that matched. She was right, it was silly to get so worked up over him just looking at her. Plenty of men had found her attractive, plenty of men had been turned on by her, but not a single one had loved her. So there wasn't any reason she could find now for one of them to start. Ed was different in that he couldn't physically tell her he wanted her, but ultimately, Frankie decided that he just wanted to use her, like all the other men. He was using her to get back to where ever he came from so why would he draw a line at wanting to use her for sex? The unfortunate truth wasn't what she thought but that Frankie was far too used to the worst type of men.

Once she had left the bathroom, Ed quickly dropped his pants, went to the toilet and pulled off a fair amount of toilet roll and started stroking his still hard cock. He leaned back against the door as he pumped hard. He'd always been in total control of his emotions but this had completely thrown him. He'd never really bothered masturbating before but seeing Frankie like that had just set him off. Even though he was horny as hell as he tried to get himself off, he just couldn't climax. Having never bothered with this before he wondered if there was something wrong? Roy would know the answer, that guy got around like no ones business, but standing there on his own Ed just couldn't think why he couldn't cum. It took a moment of standing there in the silence, his cock still hard in his hand as he tried to cum, to finally realise what was wrong and he realised it in the most curious way.

Frankie was now dressed and going around tidying up. As she did so she sang to herself. Hearing her voice through the door, Ed couldn't help but think of her again and his cock was soon stood almost flat to his stomach. He soon realised that masturbating was easier when you were thinking of a person you found attractive instead of focusing on just getting off. Of course, it was bitter sweet as Ed thought Frankie already had a boyfriend, but at the same time he closed his eyes and thought about what was behind the towel... in his mind's eye he saw her shyly drop the towel and her luscious, full lips would say to him 'it's ok to stare' almost as she had done the night before. With a jolt he opened his eyes and just managed to catch his cum in the tissue. The experience had been exhausting and he leaned against the door, breathing hard and trembling as he tried to make sure he'd cleaned it all up. Once he was cleaned he got dressed, tidied up the bathroom so it didn't look like he'd done anything, then left the bathroom. Frankie was busy making breakfast, "Hey Al, I hope you're hungry! I've made pancakes for breakfast." she smiled sweetly. She had done her hair in such a fashion that it looked like a Mohawk at the top and was left in loose but gorgeous ringlets down her back. Today she was wearing a pinstripe waistcoat suit with a white blouse under it and a body hugging short pencil skirt.

Ed felt himself blush and tried to hide it with his hand as he nodded and sat on the window sil, watching her cook. Now he really was confused. He'd just jacked off and knew for a fact he'd cum but already, seeing her like that, he felt his cock harden again. Especially as she came over to him with his food. Ed took it quickly and turned away, glaring at the plate to try to stop his blush and praying she wouldn't see his bulge. Frankie was a but confused by his reaction and wondered if he was angry with her or something. She opted to take a 'hands on' approach and draped her arms around his neck from behind, "I'm sorry about what happened in the bathroom Al... don't be mad ok? We'll go see my friend when we've had breakfast and you'll be away from this place and back home before you know it!" she tried to cheer him up.

Well, it did cheer Ed up, but not the way Frankie had intended. The gentle touch of her skin, feeling her breasts pressed against his back, her cheek brush against his, her soft voice in his ear and her delicious smell... they made Ed groan in silent as his cock pressed hard against his pants. And the worst of it? Ed couldn't tell her a thing. If he pushed her away she'd think he was angry with her, if she spotted the tenting in his pants she'd think he was disgusting... what could he do?

Fortunately Frankie let go of him before noticing and went back to finish making her own pancakes. "So eat up, you'll need your strength today my metal man." she teased him. Ed felt like a tomato and was suddenly just thankful that Al and Roy weren't there to laugh at him. He started to rush his pancakes but, as with everything else he'd had to eat, it was delicious so he ended up slowing down and taking his time. Frankie smiled over at him as she started eating her own pancakes. "If you want any more than just let me know." she said, seeing him enjoying himself. Ed smiled back widely in response. Frankie chuckled softly, "Alright, I'll make more to take along with us." she said. "Speaking of going, are you about ready to go?" she asked. Ed nodded and finished eating as Frankie cooked a few more pancakes and wrapped them up to take with. Ed got up to go, pulling his boots on and then his jacket, trying not to watch Frankie as she pulled on a pair of little black high heels and a black, leather looking biker jacket. "Ready eddy?" she asked. Ed looked up in surprise only to realise it was just a saying rather than her seriously calling him by his name. She was stood at the door by now and looked at him, "Well? Come on, we do have a deadline you know Al." she said. Ed sighed, realising he should have known better than to expect her to just suddenly realise she knew his name.

Ed followed her out of the door and paused, expecting her to stop and lock the door but she didn't so he ended up rushing after her. Being in the second story of the apartment (having used the fire escape to go out and hang out his clothes) Ed found himself running after her down the stairs. For a short girl in heels she couldn't half move quick. Ed ended up grabbing her arm just so he didn't lose her when they left the building and found themselves in a bustling street full of people. Ed knew with just a glance that he earned a lot more than anyone else walking around him, even though he'd only been living on this planet for the past two years or so. Frankie was quite obviously now not as much of an exception to the norm in terms of lack of income as he'd thought but she was still quite odd compared to those around them. She was dressed nice and walked with a smile on her face, she clearly took care of herself. It was like seeing a house cat among feral street cats in that they were all the same but their appearances were very different.

"Stick with me, Al. You'll be ok." she promised as they paused to cross a very busy road. Frankie stepped out with confidence, dancing between the speeding cars that only slowed down so that the driver could ogle at her while Ed felt practically helpless as he hung onto her arm. Ed thought he'd die of a heart attack from the experience but, before he realised it, they were on the other side. "There now, that wasn't so bad hmm?" Frankie asked. Ed opened his eyes, having shut them and clung to Frankie a moment ago. He looked to her to shake his head in reply but realised that she was speaking to a very elderly lady. "Oh thank you dear! Such a good girl! I'd have been stuck there all day." the woman said gratefully. "Think nothing of it. You take care now and have a nice day." Frankie replied as she walked off with Ed. Ed glanced back at the old lady and swore he heard her say 'such a cute couple' to herself. Ed wanted to tell Frankie what he'd heard, so that she knew what people were thinking about them, but he couldn't and Frankie didn't look at him as they carried on walking.

It wasn't until they got to the quieter end of the city that she slowed down. The buildings were grey like the rest of the city but seemed so lifeless. The only real difference between these buildings and the ones Ed had seen as they had left Frankie's house was that these looked expensive and were cared for to some standard. But Ed knew straight away that they were likely offices and that most were probably vacant yet there was an eerie feeling he couldn't shake that someone was watching them. Frankie didn't seem to care or notice as she handed Ed the pancake she'd made and brought with. "I think you've worked up enough of an appetite for this now." she chuckled softly. Ed took the pancake she offered and ate it as he did his best to keep up with her. Last thing he wanted was to be separated from her in such a dead and desolate place.

"Here we are." she said finally as they turned a corner and she started towards the most impressive building in the area. "Now, don't be afraid, Mr. Livingstone is very nice. But just so you know in advance, he is gay so... well... if you don't like that sort of thing then it's best not to encourage him and get his hopes up and to keep your distance. You're a cute guy so he'd probably like you." she mused. Ed blushed when she called him cute but looked a little worried about meeting this man now. He wasn't homophobic but the thought of a guy finding him attractive worried him especially the amount of times he'd been mistaken for a girl from behind as he'd grown up and because he wouldn't be able to tell the man verbally that hr wasn't interested. "You'll be fine Al, just be yourself ok?" she smiled confidently as they went into the building. She ignored the secretary who was glaring daggers at her but quite noticeably was checking Ed out as they passed. She went straight to the elevator and Frankie chose the number. Even if she was illiterate, she clearly understood this much.

Like any place you go, the elevator music was dreadful and Ed was happy to get out even though he had been able to spend time being close to Frankie with a reasonable excuse, and could even look at her in the mirrors that lined the walls of the elevator. He found they'd gone to the top floor and the sight that met Ed's eyes was surprisingly beautiful. From the window across from the elevator doors he could see pretty much the whole city and, what was more impressive, the land outside the city. It was forests and lush green fields as far as Ed could see. "Nice isn't it? Once you get outside the grey, grim smog of the city." Frankie said, noticing that Ed was staring out of the window. Ed nodded, agreeing with her completely. "Come on, this way." Frankie said heading down the hall. Ed glanced back at the view for a moment then hurried after Frankie.

She paused in front of the door and knocked. Someone inside must have answered her but Ed didn't hear them as he caught up to her. She opened the door and walked in. "Hey, hope you don't mind but I brought a new friend with me. To be honest, I'm hoping you can help him." she said as she walked in. Ed walked in slowly after her, feeling shy. There was a distinguished gentleman sat in one of the chairs in the board room. As he turned around, Ed was suddenly horrified to be faced with Alex Luis Armstrong. He was in a perfectly ironed black suit with a white shirt and a deep pink tie. His small but piercing blue eyes shone out from under his thick brow though both his brow and head were barren of any hair with the exception of a blonde curl in the very middle at the front where his fringe would have grown and a thick blonde mustache that completely hid his mouth from view and curled perfectly. The rest was was completely bald and incredibly shiny. He had a huge build like something you would expect on a body builder. "So, is this your new friend?" he asked leaning forwards a little and Ed found he was instantly put off this new version of Armstrong as the man was now quite shamelessly checking Ed out, looking him up and down with quite a lustful look. "Yes, it is... He's lost his voice and I want to help him get home." Frankie explained as she walked over and leaned on the table, not bothered by the man at all. "You do know who that is... don't you?" he asked with a grin. "Well... not his actual name... no. I've been calling him Al just so he knows I'm speaking to him." she explained. The man chuckled, "That young man is Mr Edward Elric. One of the greatest scientists alive today!" he laughed. Frankie blushed and looked at Ed, "So... you're Edward Elric?" she asked slowly. Ed nodded simply. Frankie blushed hard, "Well... it's nice to know..." she uttered going shy for once and looking away.

Mr. Livingstone was chuckling heartily now, "Well, as adorable as this is and as cute as he is, I think we best take a seat and you explain to me fully the situation at hand." he said, urging them to sit down. Frankie motioned for Ed to sit beside Mr. Livingstone then sat beside the young 'scientist'. "Well, all I know is that the night before last I found Mr. Elric outside a notorious club at the edge of the city. He was in a bad way and he hasn't been able to say anything to me since I found him." she explained. Mr. Livingstone nodded, taking it in, "I see, and given your position, having him write down answers to you would be pointless." he mused. Frankie nodded. Mr. Livingstone got up, went over to a cabinet, pulled out a pad of paper and came back. "Alright Edward, you use this and I'll read it out for Francesca." he said. "This sounds like it could take a while. Shall i fetch some tea?" Frankie asked. Ed rushed and wrote 'black coffee please!' Mr. Livingstone chuckled, "Excellent idea. My usual please and a black coffee for Edward." Frankie nodded and got up, "I'll be two minutes." she said as she left, closing the door behind herself.

"Well, is there anything you want to ask me?" Mr. Livingstone asked but noticed that Ed was already writing furiously. "Ho ho ho, Just dying to talk to me hmm? You know there were rumors that you bat for the other team like me." he winked. Ed pulled the paper off and handed it to him, frowning bitterly at the gay joke. "Oh...you want to know more about Frankie?" he asked looking slightly upset at the complete ignorance of his question, as he read what was written. Ed nodded with a deadly serious look on his face. "Hmm... Well i guess i can tell you as much as i know." he said slowly. "But she might not like it, are you sure you want to ask knowing she might not like it?" he asked. Ed looked at him with his deadly serious look and nodded firmly. Mr. Livingstone sighed, "Very well..."

"Francesca was born to a very poor couple. Her father was wheelchair bound and had a terminal illness even before meeting her mother. Her mother was addicted to gambling and drinking. Because her mother was always out of the house at all hours, Francesca had to care for her father from a young age so never went to school. In an attempt to keep Francesca busy, her mother always insisted that the house wasn't clean enough. Because of that Francesca has developed a touch of o.c.d, some of which you might have witnessed having stopped at hers last night. Her mother ran away with another man when Francesca turned ten, leaving her and her father with eight hundred thousand pounds of debt. Since her mother left, her fathers health took a turn for the worse but without financial support there was nothing to be done. She lost her father on her twelfth birthday." he told him. Ed felt a swell of empathy towards Frankie having been in a similar situation around the same age though he'd had Al, Winry and Aunt Pinako to support him. Frankie had had no one.

"As you can imagine, with so little choices, it was inevitable that Francesca would be approached by a fiend in her darkest hour." he went on. Frankie came back in with a tray with the tea and coffee on and put it down on the table. "And how she ended up as a personal escort." he finished. Ed looked at him confused as Frankie put the tea and coffee cups down in front of each of them. "Erm... You know... A call girl." he said trying to use polite terms. Ed still looked completely lost. Frankie hung her head a little, her eyes hidden from view, "Just tell him straight, he doesn't understand otherwise..." she said walking away from them and back towards the door. She paused and looked over her shoulder with a weak smile, "What he means to say... Is that... I'm a prostitute, plain and simple." she said then left the room again without another word. Ed swallowed hard as she left. He wrote on the paper, 'so... Does she have a boyfriend?' Mr. Livingstone read it and shook his head, "No. I don't think she's ever had one either. If you've seen her with anyone then it was most likely her pimp. Besides, it would be difficult for her to keep a boyfriend with him knowing what she does and her history... unless he happens to be a drug addict, those type of people end up dating women of Francesca's profession." he mused. 'so you've 'bought' this time with Frankie, for lack of better words?' Ed asked in writing. Mr. Livingstone nodded, "Yes. It's almost fortunate that she's very expensive as it puts the low life, dirty scum that crawl out of the sewers in this city from her." he replied. Ed frowned, 'Why is she so expensive? And how much does she cost?' he wrote, hoping to just sound curious. "Well she's in high demand, having only just turned sixteen a month back. As for cost, for an hour of her time it is about a thousand pounds. For a full twenty four hours it's five thousand. Most men don't want her longer than an hour though as it means they'd have to entertain her and be reminded of the fact that she's as human as they are." he said but Ed was hardly listening since the mention of Frankie's age.

After a moments silence Ed wrote again, 'Do you think she'll be ok?' Mr. Livingstone read it and sighed, "Francesca is British and thusly is very proud. It must have hurt her pride something rotten to have to tell you what she does. Especially since she trusts you. She'd been suicidal the night she found you so i was skeptical about seeing her alive today." he admitted. Ed stood up glaring as he went to the door. "Are you going to look for her?" he asked. Ed nodded with a determined look in his eyes. "She's likely gone to the lavatory. I'll show you." he said getting up and following Ed out of the room. He lead Ed down the hall and to the ladies toilets. "I'm sure she'll be ok though so do try not to worry, she hates being fussed over." he added as they walked.

Mr. Livingstone knocked on the door and Ed tried the handle but the door was locked and Frankie didn't answer. "Hmm... That's odd... She must have accidentally locked it from the inside. Wait here a moment, I'll go get the key from the receptionist. I'll be right back." Mr. Livingstone told Ed as he left. Ed rolled his eyes, fed up with how slow the man was to react, and when he was sure no one was around he kicked the door down. What he found inside surprised him.

The huge mirrors in front of the four elegant sinks in the bathroom had been broken and glass lay shattered all over the marble sinks and floor. The reason they were broken was in the corner, shaking like a leaf. Frankie was sat on the floor, her knees were pulled up tight to her chest, her head bowed down to hide her face behind her knees and her fringe, not caring that her skirt had shifted which resulted in her panties being on show to anyone who walked into the bathroom. Her hands were on her head, grabbing tight onto fist fulls of her hair and were covered in cuts and full of glass from breaking the mirrors, her fingers were bloody and the blood from them and her palms, knuckles and back of her hands were seeping onto her hair, making it dull. Ed walked over to her and knelt down before her. "I... I can't take it... I'm so ashamed... I can't stand it..." she whispered, trembling as she cried. Ed gently lifted her chin up so he could look directly at her tear stained face but she point-blank refused to let her eyes meet his. He felt annoyed at her lack of cooperation and wanted her to stop crying or at least look at him, even so he wasn't sure why but the next thing he knew he slapped her... thankfully using his left hand so was far gentler than using his automail and also with less force behind it. Frankie stared at him now in shock, her eyes wide and her mouth slightly open as she stared at him. He'd succeeded in getting her attention. As before, he wasn't sure why but the next thing he knew, he leaned forward and kissed her.

Frankie had been terrified at first but slowly relaxed and calmed down, feeling his warm and gentle lips pressed against hers, keeping her quiet, asking her to calm down. It made sense, he'd slapped her to get her attention so she'd focus on him, and the kiss...this gentle, tender...loving kiss... Was it to show her he didn't care about her being a call girl? Frankie closed her eyes and calmed down though her heart was now racing as her mind thought the reasons over.

Ed finally pulled away and smiled gently at her as he wiped the tears from her face. "I'm glad you're both alright though I wished you had waited for the key Edward." Mr. Livingstone said, his voice rising from the doorway. "Lets go back to the boardroom and get those hands fixed up hmm?" he advised as he walked in, the broken glass crunching under his feet. Ed helped Frankie up and she slowly walked out of the bathroom, her head down, feeling ashamed of how she'd acted. As Ed went out after her. Mr. Livingstone smirked, "So much for you being asexual or even gay, hmm Mr. Elric? That look could have passed for love but it appeared to be at least lust to my eyes." he said quietly so only Ed would hear him. Ed glared but followed Frankie back to the boardroom.

Once they were back in the room, Mr. Livingstone got the first aid kit out and started cleaning up Frankie's hands, having her sit on the huge table as he did so. "If you've already heard of Mr. Elric then surely you know where he has come from?" she asked him between sharp intakes of breath from the pain as he cleaned her hands with antiseptic wipes. "Vaguely. Last I heard he was in Whitby doing a talk on physics." Mr. Livingstone replied simply. Ed started writing as they carried on talking. "Whitby is a long way off, how ever did he get here?" Frankie asked curiously. Ed sighed and started writing.

He'd been watching Frankie talk since they had got back to the room, or rather, he'd been watching her lips. He'd recalled how they'd trembled and gasped as his lips had met hers. They'd been soft, full and quite delicate and still had a slight syrupy taste from breakfast. He'd been dying to let his tongue explore her mouth, to feel her tongue and see if she tasted as good as she sounded. But he hadn't dared and the moment had passed.

'The last town I was in was called Lancaster' Ed wrote and Mr. Livingstone read out. "I suppose that's a little bit closer. But how ever did you manage to get into the heart of the New forest alone Mr. Elric?" Frankie asked. Ed frowned and Mr. Livingstone read what he'd written just then, "It seems... well... Edward refuses to answer you until you call him by his first name." he said chuckling a little. Ed folded his arms and leaned back in his blushed, "Alright... Sorry." she uttered. Ed smiled and started writing, 'Much better. I don't remember how i got here exactly, only that a friend of mine had taken me out on what he calls a 'pub crawl'. After the second pub I don't remember anything, just waking up to see Frankie looking down at me with the moon shining behind her.' Ed wrote and Mr. Livingstone read it out. Frankie blushed softly, brushing her fringe behind her ear. "Well it sounds to me like your drink was spiked whilst you were out drinking. There's a new date drug out right now that has a few symptoms you're showing." Mr. Livingstone said. Frankie thought for a moment, "Now that you mention it, it does ring a bell. Aren't the symptoms like, sleepiness, excessive worry, forgetfulness, increased agitation towards members of the same sex, loss of voice and being ridiculously horny?" Frankie asked. Mr. Livingstone nodded, "Yes that's it and you get them all, not just one." he said, looking at Ed with a smirk.

Ed's cheeks had turned red as she'd mentioned being horny so he'd looked away quickly. "Edward? Don't you want your coffee?" Frankie asked after a moment. Ed reached out to take it but found he'd put his hand on hers as she'd passed the cup to him. Naturally Ed stared at her but wished he hadn't as he ended up looking down her cleavage as she had stood up and leaned over the table to pass him his drink. "I'll need my hand back to drink...ok?" she asked. Ed yanked his hand back in surprise. Mr. Livingstone chuckled to himself as Frankie sat back down. "Any idea as to how long it lasts?" Frankie asked him curiously, "I'd love to hear Edward's own voice before he has to leave." she added. Mr. Livingstone shrugged, "Who can say? I've been told it's a week but it can last months. Incidentally it's never been used on a man so who knows how it will react. Ed thought for a moment then wrote down on his paper, 'Is there any way I can withdraw some money from a bank?'. Mr. Livingstone frowned, "Without a bank card? Maybe if you have that famous watch of yours and a signature they can check it against." he said slowly.

Ed searched in one of his pockets and pulled out his state watch. "Perfect! Francesca, I shall drive Edward to the bank. We won't be long and it'll be best if you stay here." Mr. Livingstone said as he got his keys and coat. Ed looked over at Frankie and wished she would object and go with them. But she didn't. She knew it would be best for her to not go with them. "Ed, you should take the paper and pen so you can answer Mr. Livingstone while you're out." she suggested. Ed sighed softly and agreed with a nod. "Right, ready Edward?" Mr. Livingstone asked as he went to the door. Ed went over to the door and followed Mr. Livingstone out, only pausing to glance back at Frankie. Frankie smiled brightly and waved. She seemed so fragile that Ed suddenly felt worried about leaving her. As he walked down the hall, down in the elevator and out to the car he kept thinking about worst case scenarios. Fortunately he would soon forget those worries as he got into the car beside Mr. Livingstone. Snug wasn't the word and Ed wished he'd got in the back just for breathing space. Mr. Livingstone drove exactly how Ed assumed major Armstrong to drive...slowly like a grandma with bad eyesight. But Ed was still terrified and clung to the seat as he counted the seventeen times they nearly crashed or just narrowly avoided an accident. But thankfully they were soon at the bank. Mr. Livingstone lead Ed to one of the bankers and, after a while of boring talking about pretty much nothing, they finally turned to Ed. "Very well Mr. Elric, may i see your watch for clarification that you are whom you claim to be? And a signature also if you please?" the banker asked him. Ed fished his watch out then, after carefully reading the print carefully, Ed signed the paper presented to him.

"Everything is in good order Mr. Elric, how much would you like to withdraw?" the banker asked. Ed wrote out a figure and gave it to the banker who left to get the amount he'd asked for. "That's quite a hefty sum Edward, what ever are you planning on doing with it all?" Mr. Livingstone asked though from the look on his face Ed felt that he already knew. All the same he wrote down his honest reply. Mr. Livingstone smiled at Ed's written reply, "You do know you'll have to pressure her into this right?" he chuckled. Ed nodded but didn't look at him, he felt annoyed about how long this was taking but also nervous about having left Frankie for so long. He hoped she wouldn't be too bored waiting for them. With that settled, Mr. Livingstone and Ed left the bank and went back to the car. Ed's money was safe in a briefcase and he wisely decided to sit in the back this time along with it.

As they pulled up to the building Ed saw Mr. Livingstone frown in the rear view mirror as he looked at two new parked cars that hadn't been there when they had left for the bank. "Hmm..." he murmured as they pulled up and got out. "I think we might have guests..." he mused, walking towards the building. Ed followed, carrying his suitcase. The secretary was nowhere to be seen when they got inside and it made Ed feel nervous. He followed Mr. Livingstone to the lift and they went up to the top floor. Ed saw the door to the boardroom that they had left Frankie in was open from the other end of the hall and, in a slight panic, he dropped his briefcase and power walked towards the door, wishing he had his alchemy still. Mr. Livingstone picked up the case and hurried after Ed. Ed threw the door wide open and stared in surprise at what he saw. Mr. Livingstone was right behind Ed, "Mr. Kim! What in god's great name are you doing?!" he demanded.

Inside the room, a man who looked just like Kimblee from Ed's world was stood in a suit, his hair tied back in the same fashion and that sadistic smile firmly on his face. His slanted black, menacing eyes obviously judging them. He wasn't the only person in the room that was unwelcomed. A second man was stood behind Frankie, the young girl between the taller men, the Kimblee lookalike being a slender build, his partner being broad an firm looking. The second man had a firm hold of Frankie's shirt which had been pulled apart, breaking the buttons of her blouse, and thusly was keeping her hands in place. With his other hand he had hold of her hair. Frankie turned her face to look at who'd come in and instantly looked embarrassed as her eyes met Ed's. But before the embarrassment, Ed had seen pure fear and hatred in her eyes. Mr. Kim smiled at Ed and Mr. Livingstone, "Oh, you're back? She said you would be. I hope you don't mind. I do so like to share with you so felt you should share with me." he smirked. "And what a pretty little thing to share, so kind of you!" he chuckled. Mr. Kim ran a finger down Frankie's cheek, under her chin, down her neck and towards her breast. Something in Ed snapped and the next thing he knew, he had ran forwards. His right hand connected with Kim's hand as he tried to block but ended up being thrown back, then Ed's left leg connected with the one that had been holding Frankie. When the girl was free Ed pulled her close to himself and stood with his right arm in front of her protectively even though it wasn't in the sword form he was still so used to fighting with even though he'd lost the ability to create it two years ago.

"What the fuck Livingstone?!" Mr. Kim snarled, getting up and glaring daggers at Ed. "You must forgive him, Mr. Kim. You see, the young man there is none other than Mr. Edward Elric, I'm certain you've heard of him have you not?" Mr. Livingstone asked. Mr. Kim snarled so Mr. Livingstone went on, "Miss Francesca here is quite involved with Mr. Elric so you wouldn't be sharing with me but with him and he isn't the type to share something so valuable." he stated. Mr. Kim glared back at Ed then stormed from the room with the other man hurrying behind him, holding his bruised and possibly broken arm. Ed lowered his right arm and held Frankie a little tighter even after they had left the room. "I'll make sure they leave the building." Mr. Livingstone told Ed as he left the room.

Frankie was still shaking slightly in his protective arms. "I'm alright Edward... I'm ok..." she tried to soothe him. As she pulled away slightly, Ed took his jacket off and put it around her shoulders. When she looked down at the jacket Ed took his chance and zipped it up, hiding her breasts and bra from view. If anyone asked he'd say it was to make her decent and protect her dignity, but in truth it was because he felt jealous about others looking at her and it had been that jealousness that had caused him to fight and protect her. "Oh...thank you. I... I'm sorry to have caused you such trouble. But you didn't have to fight them off." she sighed, brushing some hair behind her ear. Ed shook his head and couldn't help but cuddle her suddenly. Frankie wasn't used to such tenderness from another human being so stayed still as he held her but suddenly let go and stumbled back as Mr. Livingstone came back into the room. Frankie looked from Ed to Mr. Livingstone. "How kind of Mr. Elric to lend you his jacket...but he has a better surprise for you. Am I right?" he chuckled, looking over at Ed. Ed blushed and nodded. "I'm afraid I don't follow..." Frankie said slowly, feeling nervous. "He's bought up the rest of your time for the week for one." he said. "W...what? What do you mean 'for one' anyway?" she asked, looking confused. "That's because there's more. Secondly he wants you to take him around the city, so he can take you shopping." Mr. Livingstone said with a grin. Frankie's jaw dropped, "You... you're kidding! I can't accept that!" she stammered, looking from Mr. Livingstone to Ed and back again. Ed just smiled in silent confidence. Frankie couldn't put the words into place to convey what her mind was thinking. "So it's settled then! I will escort you for some of the part and will at least escort you into town." Mr. Livingstone chuckled heatedly as Frankie just stood there, open mouthed.

Ed smiled a little at Mr. Livingstone though the older man smiled back under his mustache at him and creeped him out some. Frankie was still dumb-struck and so silently followed the two men out of the room. She finally found her voice when they got outside, "But... but... maybe it would be best to go another day? When my hands have healed up hmm?" she suggested. She hated others spending their money on her, simply because she felt they were wasting it. Ed chose to ignore her question and opened the back door to Mr. Livingstone's car for her. Frankie sighed and gave in, getting into the back of the car. Ed closed the door once she was in then went round to the other side and got in the back.

It was nice to be able to just sit and be beside Frankie. She looked good in Ed's jacket and he couldn't help but feel a little bit proud that said was wearing it. Even though Mr. Livingstone had said he would accompany them for some of the way, Ed wished it could just be Frankie and himself, though he did understand Mr. Livingstone's reasoning behind coming with them. Frankie was obviously known around the city to some extent and as Ed couldn't speak up to defend her there was a need for someone to defend her and speak up for Ed, though Ed hoped that, should another situation like that of the one in the boardroom should arise, he would handle it better and with more than words if necessary.

"Cheer up a little bit Edward, if you stay looking so serious and the wind changes then your face will stay that way." Frankie chuckled softly causing Ed to look at her curiously. Had he and Mr. Livingstone not turned up when they had what would she have done? She'd just been assaulted and yet here she was smiling. Ed smiled back at her weakly as Mr. Livingstone parked the car. He had to rush to get the back door for Frankie, who wasn't used to being treated like a lady so had meant to open the door herself. Ed got out of the other side and stared around as he closed the car door. There wasn't a single shred of green in sight and, though there were a lot of people, everything looked so drab and lifeless. "Stay close Ed, you don't want to end up more lost than you already are, do you?" Frankie asked as she held her hand out for him to take. Ed snapped back to focus on Frankie and nodded as he accepted her hand.

Together, all three of them, walked down the street. "First port of call is to purchase you a new blouse Francesca." Mr. Livingstone said as they went into a clothes shop. "I don't want to waste his money so something simple and cheap will be lovely." Frankie said. Ed could tell she felt nervous from how she kept glancing around. She wasn't used to being in crowded places when she wasn't working or just passing through so being so open and doing something she wasn't used to made her jumpy and nervous. But Mr. Livingstone didn't see it and lead her on and through to where the women's clothes were. Now more than ever Ed could see the gayness in him as he sifted through literally all the tops in the section, occasionally pausing to hold one up to Frankie only to shake his head and say "God no sweetie, that's so not you." Frankie left him to it though and Ed followed her lead until he spotted a top himself and pulled Frankie over to it. He took it off rail and handed it to her. "This one?" she asked. Ed nodded firmly. "Well... ok, I'll try it on." she said and walked off towards the changing room.

Ed waited just outside the changing rooms for her. Frankie wasn't long and came out to show him. "It does look good doesn't it?" she asked with a gentle smile. Ed had picked out a lumberjack style black and white checkered shirt for her to try. It was comfortable looking and fit her beautifully, a little tight across her bust but nothing major. Ed nodded and started to roll up her sleeves just above her elbows. "Better now?" she asked with a grin. Ed smiled back and gave her a thumbs up with a wink to reinforce the fact he thought it looked good. Frankie blushed softly, "Ok, I'll go change out of this then we should grab Mr. Livingstone and go ok?" she asked. This time Ed caught her hand and shook his head. He went behind her and, using his teeth, bit the price tag off. He showed her the tag and smiled, showing she could keep the shirt on and they could pay for it. He had nothing, NOTHING AT ALL, against her wearing his jacket to cover her bra and otherwise naked torso but, at the same time, he wanted her to be comfortable. "That's a great idea Edward!" Frankie smiled. Mr. Livingstone wandered over, "Hey there! I picked these out for you Francesca and..." he stopped mid sentence. "Forget I said anything! You, Look. FABULOUS!" he said hugging her tightly. "Erm... thanks..." she gasped from his tight hug. Ed tapped Mr. Livingstone's arm and, once he had his attention, held up some money and the price tag. "I see! Of course! I'll go purchase this straight away!" he beamed, happy to be helping her.

Frankie and Ed watched him rush off to buy it. The comfortable silence between Frankie and Ed was suddenly disturbed by a fairly loud growling. Ed blushed bright red and turned away and Frankie looked at him, "Was... was that your stomach?" she asked softly. Ed didn't reply as he felt increasingly embarrassed. "Well... after this we should go get lunch. I'm starving." she suggested, deciding it was best not to persist and embarrass Ed further.

When Mr. Livingstone returned with the receipt he smiled at Frankie and Ed, "So, anything else you need from here?" he asked. Frankie thought for a moment, "Well, it would be a good idea to get some for Edward. Then can we get some lunch?" she asked. Mr. Livingstone smiled happily, "Yes, of course! Come with me Edward." he said, taking Ed's arm and leading him away, much to Ed's embarrassment.

It didn't take long for Ed to pick out a pair though Mr. Livingstone obviously wished they could spend more time on looking, or at least have Ed try the pjs on. But Ed was having none of it. He didn't want to encourage Mr. Livingstone in the slightest and so the clothes shopping came to an abrupt end and they walked to a nearby café.

The waiter directed them to a table for three. Since the incident in the boardroom Ed couldn't help but feel somewhat protective of her so found himself glaring at the waiter who was eyeing Frankie up like a choice cut of meat. Mr. Livingstone ordered their drinks quickly as he spotted Ed's annoyance. Once the waiter had left them in peace Frankie looked up from the menu, having been focused on the pictures and to avoid looking at the waiter who'd made her feel uncomfortable. "Erm... Just a thought but...well...if you're staying with me then maybe we should get a futon for you to sleep on Edward?" she suggested. Ed jotted down something on the paper he'd brought with him and passed it to Livingstone who chuckled softly as he read it, "Edward doesn't mind sharing a bed with you and as he'll only be there for about a week, tops, he doesn't see the point...unless you feel awkward having him in your bed?" he asked. Frankie blushed slightly as Ed had leaned forward and was watching her with his piercing molten golden eyes. "Well I don't mind if he doesn't." she said looking away. Ed couldn't help but like this effect he was having on her and decided to push it further and slyly ran his foot along her leg. A moment later Frankie frowned, her cheeks bright red as she looked directly at Ed now. "Quit it." she finally snapped at Ed as she fidgeted in her seat. "Hmm?" Mr. Livingstone looked at her questioningly. Frankie's face went red as she mumbled, "Edward's rubbing his leg against mine..." she uttered. That made the older, gay gentleman blush, "Oh... I'm sorry. That was me... I thought you were Edward." he apologised. Though Frankie and Mr. Livingstone were blushing from embarrassment, Ed's face had paled and he swallowed hard, feeling sick as he realised he'd been rubbing his foot up a gay mans leg and getting a reaction from him too.

Fortunately the waiter came back and Mr. Livingstone ordered for himself and Frankie. Ed considered his menu and frowned in thought before pointing out his choice to the waiter, making the man come round and take him away from ogling Frankie. With their choices made the waiter left them again. "Well he certainly seems taken with you." Mr. Livingstone chuckled, teasing Frankie. "To be honest, I'm not interested in the slightest." she told him. Ed wasn't sure how he felt about this statement. On one hand it was great that she had some standards for her personal love life but, on the other hand, Ed couldn't help but feel that it was directed towards all people in general and thusly included him too...and in that he wasn't certain if he cared about it or not.

He didn't have time to think on it though as once again the waiter returned with their meals. "Well after this I'm afraid I must leave you. Will you be alright without me to interpret?" Mr. Livingstone asked. Frankie looked at Ed then back at Mr. Livingstone with a smile as they started eating, "Yes, I think we should be ok. All we need to do is go get a few groceries for dinner tonight." Frankie told him as she picked up her knife and fork. Mr. Livingstone smiled and nodded, "That sounds like a solid plan to me." he agreed. Ed ate in silence, listening to them chat and actually thinking that he would have preferred something made by Frankie at her home than the stodgy mess they'd presented him with though he ate it all the same. Part of him couldn't wait till Mr. Livingstone had left them alone but the other part was wondering how he could communicate with Frankie without anyone to read what he'd written for her.


	4. Chapter Three

The problem of how he could communicate with Frankie remained with Ed long after Mr. Livingstone had left them after lunch and all the while Frankie walked through the market place with him. It was all well and good that he could answer her questions with a nod or shake of his head but he wanted to be able to ask her things too. There was so much he didn't know, that he wanted to know, that he felt he needed and indeed deserved to know. Towards the end of the shopping he started to loose his temper with himself. He had been a protégé back in Amestris when it concerned Alchemy, and here he was widely considered to be a genius of the scientific world! Yet he couldn't even do something as simple as find out more about this new city. And as helpful and generally sweet as Frankie was, she simply wasn't giving Ed the answers he wanted to the questions he literally couldn't ask. It was all quite infuriating. Though the most bizarre and and unexpected answer was literally just around the corner.

As Frankie finished shopping Ed took the bags for her. On top of his annoyance and frustration with himself he was also starting to get really pissed off with how women were giving Frankie dirty looks and the men were staring at her like she was a piece of meat. It had been a long day. As Frankie was explaining to Ed what she was thinking of making for tea Ed spotted someone in the crowd, for the fifth time that day, that he thought he recognised. At first he hadn't been sure but now he felt certain he knew who it was so started going after that person. Frankie looked back just in time to see Ed disappear into the crowd. "Ed? Edward?" she called as she hurried after him. Frankie knew very little about Ed so was worried, concerned and wondered what he was running away from.

About half way through the crowded market place Ed accidentally knocked into someone and dropped the bag of food he had been carrying for Frankie, spilling food all over the ground. But he failed to notice as he tore off after the person he had his eye on. By the time Frankie got to the place where he had dropped the groceries Edward was long gone. Frankie sighed and picked up the bag, putting the overly broken, dirty, damaged and trampled food in a bin and the undamaged food back in the bag then, carrying the now less than half full bag carefully around, continued to look for Ed. After an hour the market place emptied and after a further half hour Frankie finally admitted that Ed was long gone so, with a heavy heart and her mind full of questions, she headed home too.

Meanwhile, Ed had managed to get across half the city centre before he caught up with the person he had been chasing. He grabbed hold of the young man's jacket, causing him to stop and look back in surprise and amazement. "Hmm? Oh! Brother! There you are! Where have you been? I've been so worried!" Ed's younger brother, Alphonse exclaimed as they embraced. Obviously Ed couldn't reply but that didn't seem to matter now as he listened to Al gush on and on... but Ed had tuned out as he heard a clock chime five o'clock somewhere in the square where he'd caught Al and, with a sickening realisation, it occurred to him that he'd ditched Frankie and managed to loose her shopping bags in the process too. So it was with that thought, and a bit of guilt, Ed turned back and headed back to the market place with his brother rushing after him, asking question after question that Ed couldn't answer though hopefully, and a certain amount of luck, Frankie could.

The heavens opened as Ed and Al got to the now very much abandoned market place. He'd been gone for over two hours so expecting her to have hung around was a bit much. Still, his guilt deepened when he found where he'd dropped the bag and the ruined food. Glancing back at a very exhausted and confused Al he smiled weakly . Poor Al didn't understand what Ed was doing but trusted his brother enough that Ed's lack of answers didn't keep him from following his older brother. With a slight shrug and feeling lost as to what to do, Ed lead his brother back along the streets. He wasn't concentrating on where he was going but fortunately soon found himself faced with a familiar building. He smiled weakly at Al, who was as soaked and cold as he was, and went inside. Al had long since given up asking Ed questions since his big brother wasn't answering or saying anything. He wasn't certain about following Ed inside but sighed and followed anyway, trusting his older brother.

Ed took him up the two flights of stairs that he and Frankie had descended earlier that day, passing a bulky older man who looked all the world like Basque Grand. He had the dark skin, over six foot in height, broad shoulders with over the top muscles. There was no hair on his scalp but a medium sized black handlebar moustache under his nose and a small scar on his cheek. He had small, beady black eyes that glared at everyone. The only thing that seemed different was that he was wearing a white shirt with the sleeves rolled right up to expose his large muscles and his denim jeans were ripped and stone washed and he had a pair of old looking army type boots on his feet. He seemed to growl at Ed as he passed and Ed spotted he was carrying a briefcase in his hand. Ed had his suspicions but didn't think about it too much as they didn't speak to the man and continued up to the second floor.

Ed stopped by a door that looked familiar and knocked. Al stuck close to his brother, not feeling very confident in these surroundings, he just wasn't used to it and, thanks to Ed's protective nature, he wasn't familiar with the lower level of society. After a moment Frankie opened the door. She was a mess. Her lip was fat, broken and bloody and she was also sporting a cut under her eye too which looked like she would be soon showcasing a black eye. But, regardless of how bad she looked, she still smiled at Ed. "Edward! I was so worried when you ran off like that. Are you ok?" she said, flinging the door open and embracing him for a moment before stepping back to study him. Ed didn't look impressed. He'd been gone from her side for only an hour or two and this had happened to her. "Erm...who's your cute friend?" she asked, not noticing Ed's anger and frustration. Al missed Ed's mood too and bowed in response to Frankie's question, "Hello. I'm Alphonse Elric, Edward's little brother." he introduced himself. "Pleasure to meet you. I'm Francesca..." Frankie started but Ed lost it and pushed her back against the wall inside her flat. He had all these emotions running around and he physically couldn't explain what he was feeling or why. Especially not the whys as he couldn't answer those himself. Why was he so angry that the man who'd hurt her had got away without a scratch? Why was he so hurt to see how she was hurt? Why was he upset at the thoughts of what he'd done to her? Why was he so angry with himself for ignoring his gut instincts and letting the Basque Grand look-a-like get away?

He had pinned her back against the wall, his right hand gripping her left upper arm and his left hand on her neck. Al had rushed to pull Ed off and Frankie's hand had instinctively taken hold of his left wrist. But the fear she'd initially had soon melted away as her eyes met Ed's and she saw the tears streaming down his face from his molten golden eyes in pure frustration. "Edward..." she whispered his name softly through her bloodied lips. Though his hand was on her neck it wasn't tight and the only pressure was against the disgusting bite the man had given her, wanting to keep it from his brother's sight as explaining it would be difficult. Her simply saying his name had been enough to tip the scales and Ed slumped against her, his head against her chest as he cried, his hand leaving her neck and arm. Frankie smiled softly as she looked down at Ed's head and raised her eyes to meet Al's in a sympathetic way for a moment. "Edward...I'm sorry...I'm ok, honest..." she said softly. "Thank you for worrying about me." she added, slowly hugging him and offering him the comfort he desired.

Al relaxed as he saw that Frankie was taking care of Ed's...well...his emotional issue though he was silently amazed that she could deal with him when so many would panic in the same position. As his brother calmed down Al shut the door and took his soaked coat, his brother's old red coat, off and hung it on the coat rack. Both Al and Ed were soaked to the bone not that Frankie seemed to notice as she loosely held Ed.

When Ed had calmed down enough Frankie moved away from him and went to her wardrobe. She pulled out two large fluffy towels and offered one to each of the boys. "Is it ok if I ask you some questions miss Francesca?" Al asked as he peeled off his soaked shirt. Ed frowned in mild annoyance as he spotted Frankie glance at him. She looked away quickly though, "Just call me Frankie. And of course, I'll tell you anything you want to know when you've dried off." she said sweetly. Ed rolled his eyes and started stripping off, hanging the towel around his shoulders. It wasn't that he wanted to show off or that he was jealous in the slightest or even trying to get Frankie's attention...or at least that's what he told himself as he stripped down to his boxers. "I'll pop these on the clothes horse in the bathroom, you guys make yourselves comfortable." Frankie insisted as she took the wet clothes from them and took them into the bathroom. Though Al's pants were wet too he didn't feel confident enough to remove them. "Are you sure you're ok Ed?" he whispered to his brother as Frankie hung their clothes in the bathroom. "Normally you're much more shy and reserved about...well...stripping in front of girls...or is there something going on between you two?" he asked. Ed's cheeks flared bright red as he turned to glare at Al in a silent 'No!' reply. Al smiled a little, trying not to laugh.

"I'll pop the kettle on and we can have a nice chat hmm Alphonse? I'm sure there's a lot of questions we both are dying to ask one another." she chuckled as she set about making the tea. "How do you like your drink Alphonse?" she asked. "Tea, three sugars and quite milky please." Al replied with a smile, noticing how Ed tried to hide his blush from her by turning away quickly. Frankie nodded and made the tea and Ed's coffee.

"So... Erm... Why can't my brother speak?" Al asked after having a sip of tea. "Well, the short of it is that we believe someone slipped him a drug when he was out drinking with his friend. It's probable a 'date rape drug' so my guess is that he accidentally took a girl's drink instead of his own." Frankie reasoned. "Where abouts did you find Ed anyway? He really seems to trust you." Al asked between sips. "Well he was in an alley way on the outskirts of the city, near one of the worst clubs in the area. He was soaked to the bone and had passed out when I happened across him. But I am glad he does trust me even if it's just a little. He's been really sweet and helpful so it has been a real treat for me to have him stay with me for two nights. Ed frowned slightly at that. If you considered that Frankie found him before midnight, then Ed woke in the evening the next day then it had indeed been two nights. Still it was a little odd for him as it didn't feel so long and he found himself staring at Frankie. "So, I except that now you've found your brother you'll be going home soon hmm Edward?" Frankie asked, snapping Ed out of his glazed-over stare. Ed was surprised by this and felt a little lost as how to respond. Frankie had a point, Ed didn't need to stay with her now he had found Alphonse... Fortunately Alphonse came up with a reply that, didn't exactly help in an obvious way but made Frankie think about being more delicate about asking the brothers questions.

"We Erm...don't exactly have a home to go back to." Al said with a slight blush. "So...well...there's no need for us to hurry, there's no one waiting for us." he added. Frankie looked honestly sorry to hear this, "But surely you have some relatives you are staying with?" she asked kindly. Al shook his head and smiled weakly, "No, our family is all in this room. We're all we've got." Frankie looked from Al to Ed and back again. Ed did well not to smile, trust the little brother to pull the old 'we haven't got a home to go back to and only have each other' line, Al had always been good at finding the right things to say at the right time especially when speaking to women. "So... It's just the two of you?" Frankie asked softly. Ed nodded, sipping his coffee. "Yes, our father walked out on our mother when we were still very little. All he left our mother with were two young boys, a little bit of money and a pocket full of broken promises... that he'd come back. Mother died long before he came back, we were about six at the time." Al confirmed, glancing at Ed who'd placed a comforting hand on Al's. "Oh... I'm sorry...it must be painful to bring up." she apologised quickly. Al shrugged it off, "It's fine. We're used to being alone by now." he said.

Frankie sighed, "So...with no family and no home, where are you staying Alphonse?" she asked. This was a question Ed had been wanting to ask himself. "Well, I'm staying with our friend Roy Mustang in a hotel a little way from here. Mustang isn't currently in the city though, but he will be meeting me tonight." Al explained. "I see..." Frankie nodded. "Well i guess that means you can go back with Al tonight right Ed?" she asked him as she sipped her tea. Ed shook his head determinedly. He grabbed the paper and pen and wrote for Al to read out to Frankie, 'I didn't request to stay with you just for a place to stay. I've something i need you to do...something only you can help me with.' Even as he wrote it, Ed wasn't sure what he meant by needing her help but he did know he didn't want to leave her alone so soon. Given her line of work, or 'profession' if you could call it that, it made his statement sound dirty and perverted...not that Al would think it until later when he and Ed could 'talk'. Frankie didn't look like she believed it but she nodded, "Well if that's the case then I'll gladly be of service to you and help you in any way I can Edward." she said as she stood up and took her now empty cup to the sink. "Now that the rain has stopped I need to pop to the corner shop for some milk, will you two be ok without me for five minutes?" she asked, glancing back at them. The brothers looked at one another and then back at Frankie and nodded. Ed pulled a couple of notes from his pocket and offered them to her but she shook her head, "It's only milk Ed, I'm pretty sure I can afford a pint or two. I'll be five minutes." she insisted as she pulled her coat and shoes on and headed out.

Ed sighed as she closed the door behind herself. "If I didn't know you better, I'd say you have a crush on Frankie." Al teased his brother and Ed went bright red as he blushed and looked away quickly to try to keep Al from seeing, frowning as he did so just to emphasise the fact that Al was dead wrong about his assumption. Al chuckled softly, "You know, it is ok if you do decide you like someone. You know I won't mind. But I've got to say, it is nice to see you not pushing a girl away for once." he said. Ed glared at his brother so Al decided to move the conversation on. "So, tell me about her. Does she have a boyfriend? How old is she? Does she have a job?" he asked. Ed blushed and started writing. He wasn't sure how to word Frankie's 'job' or explain her to Al but he did the best he could. 'Well, she's single as far as i can tell but she sort of has a lot of boyfriends too in a sense. She's just turned 16 in the past week of so, so she's two years younger than you. And yes. She does have a job.' he hesitated here, wondering what to put. Finally he decided to be honest with Al, there had never been any real secrets between them so why start now? 'She's a prostitute. Her mother left her and her terminal ill step father with a lot of debt. He passed away two years back and she was taken in by a pimp. She's basically working for him to pay it off as he took the debt from her when he took her in.' Ed explained as best he could, leaving out a few things he thought of as unnecessary information. Al looked shocked as he read it, "But she's so sweet and pretty! She can't be a whore!" he exclaimed. Ed sighed and wrote again, 'Its not exactly by choice. And anyway, she's more of a high class escort girl and because she's so young she's worth a lot so doesn't hang out on street corners like a common prostitute. And yes. She is pretty.' he wrote. Al smiled as he read it, "Kind of defensive for someone who doesn't have a crush on her." he teased. "I'm surprised you haven't bought some of her time." he added. Ed blushed and looked away. "Brother?" Al asked curiously. Ed turned his body away a little more to hide the look on his face. "You did, didn't you?" Al asked, persisting to get an answer from his brother, trying not to chuckle as he teased his brother. Ed finally looked back at his little brother and nodded slowly. Al shook his head but chuckled, "Trust you! When you can talk you ignore female and male advances towards you and make people believe that you're asexual and something of an arsehole. But the second you loose your voice you turn into prince charming." he laughed, making Ed blush harder and write furiously 'Shut up! Like i care what anyone, female or male, think of me!' he wrote and shoved it under Al's nose to read. Al just chuckled as Frankie came back.

"Sorry I was gone so long. I hope you weren't too bored." she said hanging her coat up and taking her shoes off and smiling at them. Looking at her, Al found it difficult to believe that Frankie was younger. "We were just catching up." he said, returning her smile as Frankie put the milk in the small fridge that sat under the kitchen counter. "That's nice. Are you staying for Tea tonight Alphonse?" she asked. Al shook his head, "No, not tonight. I promised Roy that i would meet him back at the hotel in time for dinner." he explained. "I see, well I'll walk you there when you're ready to go." Frankie offered, flashing him her lovely kind smile that made Al blush a little and Ed scowl. Frankie took the clothes down now they had finished drying. "All dry and it's stopped raining too." she said as she gave them back to the brothers and took their empty cups from them. Ed happily dropped his towel and started getting dressed. Despite what he had said and thought, Ed had been sat the whole time with his torso on show and the towel slung around his shoulders. He almost seemed to want Frankie to take notice but she was busy washing the now empty cups to give the boys some privacy to get dressed. Al dressed quickly, grateful for Frankie turning her back to them. Once dressed, Ed started pulling his boots on and got his jacket as Al did the same. "Are you sure you're up to coming with us Edward? I won't be too long." Frankie asked as she saw him get ready to leave also. Ed just nodded his head firmly and stood by the door looking determined. "When he makes his mind up it's almost impossible to make him change it." Al said by way of an apology. Frankie frowned a little, "So... You want to go now?" she asked looking from one brother to another. Ed and Al nodded in unison, "Better going while it's not raining and still light outside." Al explained. Frankie glanced out of the window, "Yes i guess that's a good point." she agreed as she pulled her shoes on and her coat once again.

They hadn't walked very far when the light started to fade from the sky and the darkness of night descended, making the street lamps light up. Ed tried to shield his brother as usual from the going ons of the world around them, the drug dealers cruising in the cars, the prostitutes selling themselves for disgusting addictions, men with little or no moral left that eye up the women and gauge how much the women are worth and if they would pay so much for each... Frankie didn't seem to see it at all and just carried on walking as though nothing was going on around them. Ed found himself holding onto Frankie's arm tighter when cars slowed down as they passed or when they passed other people on the street. When they got to the hotel Ed and Al embraced for a moment to say goodbye and watched as Al went in to meet up with Roy. Roy was the last person Ed wanted to see right now so they didn't go inside, instead Ed pulled Frankie away the second Al had gotten inside the hotel. Ed walked back with Frankie and insisted they took their time. He was trying to be a gentleman so was holding her hand gently as they walked unlike before when he'd held her arm. He started to feel increasingly protective of her, especially when cars slowed down and he saw the shady shifty men eyeing Frankie up. "Edward, will you just relax? You'll make me trip if you keep clinging like that." Frankie said softly to him. Ed blushed a little and tried to relax but couldn't help but continue to walk defensively beside her.

When they finally got in Frankie took her shoes off but Ed insisted on helping her take her coat off and hanging it up for her along with his own coat. With Ed putting their coats on the coat hook Frankie went into the bathroom and Ed could hear her running water. Before long a nice smell wafted through from the bathroom and Frankie came out with a towel, "Here...someone once told me that a change in weather makes joints of lost limbs ache so i ran you a hot bath with some muscle relaxant in it." she said, handing him the fluffy towel. "And, well, i don't want to embarrass you but you need to try to take care of your...erm...'problem'." she said with a light blush. Ed frowned but noticed her point downwards and towards his groin. Ed glanced and was horrified to see his pants had tented out. "I thought you would have dealt with it by now so didn't want to say anything but if you keep ignoring it then I'm worried you could potentially burst a blood vessel." she added softly, a look of worry in her eyes. "While you bathe I'll finish getting dinner ready." she said letting him go.

Ed felt embarrassed and also annoyed. He'd dealt with it only this morning! He'd controlled it all day! How the hell had she seen it before he had? Unless...unless he'd been hard all day but had been ignoring it himself? It wasn't like that wasn't a possibility. Ed slipped into the bath, groaning silently as his tense muscles relaxed...well, all muscles but one. When he'd finished bathing and washing his hair he took her advice and started a stroking himself. Once again he didn't find it easy but finally managed to make himself cum though once again it was mainly with thanks to erotic thoughts of Frankie. With that done he got out of the bath, dried himself off and got dressed. He pulled the plug in the bath, gave it a quick rinse out and went back to join Frankie.

While Ed had been washing himself Frankie had got on with finishing up making tea that she'd started before Ed and Al had gotten back to her flat and before the beefy Brass Grande look-a-like had turned up. Ed was amazed that he'd managed to miss the wonderful smell when he and Al had first got back, but figured that catching up with Al had taken captivated his attention at the time. "Are you hungry Edward?" Frankie asked with a smile as she looked over her shoulder at him. Ed took sat down on the bed, leaving space for her, and smiled back at her, nodding to confirm though mentally cursing the fact he was getting hard again... how was the girl able to do this to him without trying?! He dread to think how he might react if she tried to purposefully turn him on. "Great because I made a fair bit." she said serving it up and bringing the plate over to him, carrying her own at the same time with the knives and forks resting on the plates. She handed Ed one and sat down with the other. With a gentle smile at him she started eating. Ed stared at his plate and instantly fell in love. she'd made individual chicken pies from scratch including the rough puff pastry, with freshly done veg with a little butter melted onto them. Frankie smiled to herself at seeing the pleased look on Ed's face though she couldn't help but spot that his problem was still as firm as ever. Finally she couldn't stand it any longer, "Edward... if you aren't able to manage it yourself... then how about you let me help?" she offered shyly. Ed stopped eating, though he'd almost finished by now, and looked at her with a 'are you serious?' look on his face, his fork still between his lips. "I mean, lets face it, it's basically my job so you don't have to worry too much about me going out of my way. And I wouldn't let 'me helping you this way' change our friendship... besides, if it did change on your part then it's still ok because you're leaving soon right?" she said between bites.

Ed slowly finished his food and Frankie stopped and a look of utter dread passed across her face, "Oh shit... I messed up didn't I?" she said. As Ed peered down at her he noticed tears forming in her eyes. "That's not the sort of thing you just offer like that is it?" she uttered, putting a hand to her mouth. Ed put his empty plate on the floor as she went on, "I never know when to shut up... I talk too much and ruin everything." she sniffed. Ed took her plate from her and put it on the floor. Frankie looked up a little, tears still in her eyes, even as Ed placed his nearest hand on her cheek to make her look at him. She wasn't sure what he was thinking even as his pressed his lips to hers, breathing in her intoxicating scent that drove him crazy like nothing else could. Frankie raised a hand as though to make him remove his hand from her cheek but his free hand caught it and, being as gentle as he could, he pushed her back down onto the bed. He wasn't certain himself why he was doing this, all he knew was that if she started crying again then he didn't know how he'd stop her. He had always hated to see females cry, that was from memories of his mother, Winry and even Izumi's heartache over her loss of a child, but with Frankie it was different in itself. He wanted to make her happy, he wanted to see her smile, he wanted her to have some self worth, some self esteem but most for those things he knew he'd need to speak to help raise her spirits.

Frankie let him push her down with ease, wishing she knew what he wanted from her as he kissed her. Was he really taking her up on her offer? If only he could talk to tell her! urgh, it was so frustrating! and yet... and yet, would he have stayed so long, have been so kind and caring towards her if he could talk and could tell her what he wanted? As Ed ran his hand along from her wrist to meet with her hand, his fingers entwining with hers, she decided she didn't care. Ed finally pulled back and sat up, looking down at her with a charming smile and found Frankie blushing as she looked up at him, her lips mimicking his smile back at him. "You... you're teasing me aren't you?" she asked slowly. Ed flashed her a boyish grin and winked at her. Frankie slowly sat up, "You're awful, you know that?" she asked, laughing softly. "But thanks for cheering me up. You're so sweet Edward." she kissed his cheek before he moved and sat beside her again. "guess that's your way of saying we're cool hu?" she asked to be certain as she took the dirty plates to the sink.

Ed got up and walked after her as she spoke. When she stopped at the sink he put his arms around her from behind and cuddled her, resting his head on her shoulder so he could breath in that glorious slightly floral smell that he'd grown to love and associate with her. "Edward... I'm trying to do the washing up..." Frankie uttered though she honestly didn't mind him doing this what so ever. Ed found himself staring down her cleavage as he cuddled her, quite aware that his cock was pressed against her ass through their clothing. He felt sick at seeing that disgusting bruise on one of her breast that had been made the other day when her pimp had come round. Did no man around here know how to treat a girl? Ed wondered how other guys got off because fucking a girl, without caring if she was enjoying herself or not, was not his idea of enjoying yourself. To him, even though he was still a virgin, he was more turned on by the thought of the girl enjoying herself... and the only reason he was thinking of a girl being sexually pleasured was because of Frankie. The truth was that, male or female, Ed firmly believed that both partners in a sexual relationship deserved to enjoy the experience otherwise it was pointless and just plain wrong to keep doing.

With those thoughts in his mind Ed held onto Frankie without thinking much about what he was doing so it was only when Frankie trembled slightly and looked up at him in a questioning way that he realised his left hand had made it's way from her stomach to her breast. And there it had stopped, happily cupping her breast. Ed felt his face go red as he looked from her chest, to her face and back to his hand. Frankie smiled softly up at him, "You know, there's nothing wrong with falling in love or enjoying yourself with someone who's comfortable like this." she told him, putting a calming hand on his. Ed smiled back shyly and, for the first time since meeting her, put his hand on Frankie's cheek to make her look at him, and kissed her while knowing what he was doing and not because he wanted to calm her down. At first only their lips met but slowly, as Ed gained confidence, he slowly opened up and let his tongue explore the inside of her mouth, to meet her tongue, to find out how good she tasted...and he was happy to find that he wasn't disappointed. As he kissed her he allowed his hand to wander a little, to feel her curves, discover her heart beat, as a scientist in this world and an alchemist in his own Ed was practically addicted to finding out things for himself, trying things and learning things first hand. So discovering her was a thrill in itself.

Finally he broke away and smiled at her shyly but felt a little bit more confident as Frankie smiled softly back at him. "We should get some sleep. There's a long day ahead of us tomorrow." she said. He nodded a little and let go of her. He went to the bags Frankie had carried home herself and found his new pjs and went into the bathroom to get dressed. While he was in there he leaned against the bathroom door. If kissing and caressing a girl could make him this hard then surely, surely masturbating couldn't be that difficult? He'd managed to make himself cum a few times including just before tea so why was he still hard and why were his thoughts occupied with Frankie? There was nothing special about her, she was kind but, though it was difficult to find in this city, it wasn't something Ed wasn't used to and, to top it off, she wasn't the sharpest knife in the draw...more like a spoon in a draw full of carving knives. So why did it help when he thought of her? Why was thinking of her cute, curvy body, soft lips and sweet smell all he could think about as he pumped his rock hard cock? Her offer of helping also stayed firmly in his mind and that started to manifest into what sort of way she'd want to help him. He groaned a little as he reached his climax as he thought about her wet pussy, only just catching the cum in his hand. He hurried to clean himself up, feeling embarrassed that just thinking of her being turned on had made him cum. He hadn't even thought about her actual pussy either, it had been the mental image of her panties that had somehow managed to burn into his mind when he'd gone to help her in the bathroom when they had been in Mr. Livingston's work building. Ed quickly dressed and brushed his teeth with the new toothbrush Frankie had bought for him at the market. It felt strange seeing his toothbrush next to hers but he pushed it from his mind and left the bathroom.

While he'd been in the bathroom Frankie had tidied up, lit the fire, dimmed the lights and was finishing getting ready for bed when Ed came back into the room. A storm had started outside and the rain beat down hard against the window panes, in contrast it made the studio flat seem much more comfortable and cosy. She smiled at him as she did up the last button on her pj top. Ed couldn't deny, he'd preferred to see Frankie in just her pj top with her long legs on show but he smiled back a little and got into bed on the same side that he'd slept on the night before while she went to brush her teeth and turned the lights out and got into bed beside him, leaving space between them like before. Ed lay there a little while then gave in, moved over and pulled Frankie into an embrace, holding her against his chest as they settled into a comfortable spooning position. Frankie didn't complain or give any hint she didn't like it, in truth she felt safer and more comfortable in his embrace than she had done since her father and brother had died. With Frankie in his arms, Ed drifted off into a peaceful sleep far easier than he had done before.

His sleep didn't remain peaceful as he woke around midnight, his groin aching with an odd type of pain from his cock. He groaned silently and rolled onto his back as he realised it was his erection. Lying on your stomach with a hard on was a painful thing as Ed had leaned first hand. Breathing in through clenched teeth, Ed glanced beside him and noticed that Frankie wasn't in bed nor did she seem to be in the flat at all. Ed got up and tried to hide his sudden panic as he searched the studio flat frantically for her. But once he had checked the bathroom he realised she was no longer in the flat. About now he actually started to really look around and take notice of things in the flat. By doing so he discovered that both Frankie's coat and shoes were gone. With the storm raging outside, the wind blowing a gale, the rain beating against the windows and the whole thing being generally noisy, Ed grew increasingly worried and paced about, trying his best to think of where she could have gone and, more to the point, why had she gone without waking him to at least tell him?

It was fortunate that a flash of lightening illuminated the courtyard area out back just as he walked past the window otherwise he would have missed seeing what was out there all together and thus risked going out and getting lost in the unfamiliar city. Something outside, sat at the top of the fire escape stairs had caught his eye and made him stop. He couldn't be sure what it had been as the flash had only lasted an instant but decided to check so opened up the back door and, low and behold, there was Frankie sat on the metal steps huddled over something. She had her coat bundled up on her lap and was completely soaked through. She glanced up, having jumped slightly, as Ed placed his hand gently on her shoulder to get her attention. "Oh! Ed... Go back inside. We're ok." she shouted over the loud rain, the water dripping from her hair and down her face. Ed used his thumb to point back to the warmth of the flat. Frankie looked towards the warm lit room then shook her head, "It's ok... Mr. Livingstone explained that you don't like cats so i didn't want to scare you by bringing Cat inside especially if you are allergic to him or anything. So we don't mind waiting out the storm like this... at least until the rain passes." she said only just audible over the rain. Cat peeked out from under her coat and mewed at him. Ed sighed and moved to stand beside her. He waited until she looked up at him then he bent down and gently picked her up, bridal style, and carried her back inside, using his foot to close the door behind them. He gently put her down and smiled sweetly as he removed her shoes for her. Frankie had an adorable blush on her cheeks as she let Cat get out and down from her coat. Ed took her soaked coat and hung it up by the fireplace along with her drenched shoes.

"Sorry to be such a pain Edward... I'll go change out of these soaked clothes..." she said as she got up and went into the bathroom. Once the door was closed she tried wringing her hair out into the bath then attempted to peel off her soaked clothes though she found it was considerably difficult than she had first thought and, to make matters worse, she'd forgotten to bring clean and dry clothes in with her. Feeling embarrassed and a little stupid too for forgetting something so simple, she shyly peeked around the bathroom door. Ed was sat up, stroking Cat but looked up when he heard door creak open a bit. "Erm... Edward? Can you please do me a huge favour? I forgot to get some clean clothes... Can you get me a shirt from my middle draw and... a pair of panties from my top draw?" she asked. Ed found himself blush too but did as she asked. He frowned as he found her middle draw was full of blouses with not a T-shirt in sight, nothing looked comfortable enough to sleep in, but he picked the biggest one out and hoped it would be ok. He then tried to calm himself before opening the top draw... her underwear draw. She had a lot of cute pieces and all of them were part of a matching pair, but Ed blushed more as he realised that all her panties were thongs or shorts. He quickly pulled out a white pair and a matching bra, trying not to look through all her items... though in truth, he actually had considered it... out of innocent curiosity of course, then took the set and the blouse to Frankie who was still hiding behind the door. "Thank you Edward... I'll just be a moment." she said, taking them then vanishing behind the door as she closed it, all in all, managing to not show any naked part of her body except for her arm, shoulder, neck and head.

True to her word, Frankie was soon back wearing just the blouse and thong that Ed had picked out for her. She put the bra back in the top draw as Ed watched looking a little confused. Frankie noticed the look and smiled at him, "I never wear my bra to bed." she told him with a wink. Ed blushed and his cock strained against his pants. "Still no luck with your problem?" she asked softly. Ed's blush deepened and he looked away, trying to hide his blush as usual though it was too late for that now as she'd already seen it. "Edward. If you want me to help then I don't mind. As i said earlier, it won't change my opinion of you and if anything does change between us then I swear to you, it won't be on my part that it does so. Things will only change between us if you decide on that happening." she said slowly, trying to be reassuring for him. Ed thought about it. He didn't want to use her like so many men had... but the erection was starting to become painful and annoying. With a slight frown he gave in and nodded, mouthing the word 'please'. Frankie smiled softly, "ok well if you want me to stop just pull me off, you should be able to reach my hair. Just try to stay relaxed." she said. "oh, and could you... erm... You know... drop your pants a little bit? I'd do it for you but i know you don't really like me doing things for you. Just enough so I can get to where I need to be." she added. Ed felt a twang of annoyance at her suggesting he didn't like her helping him, but let it go as he simply dropped his pants and boxers for her, doing as she asked.

Frankie was hardly able to keep the look of surprise from her face as she finally got to see what had been causing Ed such embarrassment and what had kept his pants taut for so long. Ed was nothing short of huge. His thick, rock hard, big cock stood upright, the head was near purple from the strain, was almost touching his toned stomach and the blonde pubic hair around it just kept drawing her eyes back to his cock. Ed found himself blush as he saw her staring as she walked over. "Ok, just sit down on the edge of the bed and leave the rest to me." she said. Frankie was wondering what the hell had possessed her to offer him a blow job. Out of all the sexual acts she'd had to perform, sucking dick was her least favourite... not that she liked any of them at all in reality. She pushed the thoughts from her mind as she knelt down and tried to put her work frame of mind on.

Ed watched her nervously, wishing he could read her better. But all nervousness vanished as Frankie knelt down and her lips touched his head. As soft and gentle as he'd remembered from when they had kissed earlier, he decided that she was only trying to help so let her do just that. Frankie slowly started using her tongue, running it along the length, from the base to the head. After a moment she started to use her hand to gently play with his balls too. As she finally took his cock into her mouth Ed threw his head back and moaned silently. Because it was silent, Frankie didn't notice, she was too busy playing with him. It was crazy but she had found that this was actually enjoyable. The taste, the feel and knowing he was grateful for it made her actually want him to enjoy it and maybe, just maybe, ask her to do this for him again. Ed looked down at Frankie, her eyes half closed as she sucked and licked at his cock. He ran his left hand through her hair gently and even lovingly, making her look up at him as he smiled back at her, his cheeks a gentle red. She blushed and looked back at his toned torso as she carried on. When she had raised her head Ed had noticed that his legs were between hers. Deciding that he wanted her to enjoy herself too, Ed slowly raised his right foot and ran it up her thigh, across her pussy and down her other thigh, knowing how tender this area was. He watched as she trembled slightly and started working harder. He smiled to himself and did it again as he realised she liked it. What's more, he had learned from watching her that if Frankie was enjoying herself then she would try harder to make sure he was enjoying himself too. But more importantly, Ed found that it was really arousing for him if she was enjoying herself too. Frankie couldn't help but moan around his cock as Ed teased her, she'd never known a man care about if she was turned on or not while she helped them get off so either Ed was just testing the water or actually wanted to arouse her too.

Unfortunately the Frankie playing with his cock didn't last much longer as Ed felt his concentration on her slip as he grew close to cumming. Frankie had started to gently use her teeth but stopped when she took his cock in as far as she dared, moving her head fast up and down the shaft of his cock. His fingers suddenly clenched hold of her hair and he pulled her off a little harsher than intended but with great need as he came hard. Unfortunately he wasn't quick enough and the result? Well the result was that he ended up cumming in her face. Ed looked horrified at the sight of her, his white cum around her lips, on her cheeks, just missing her eyes and slowly dripping down her neck towards her breasts. But Frankie smiled softly and, using a finger, wiped some cum from her chin and licked it off. That made Ed blush but he felt less bad about the mess as he saw she didn't mind. Using one hand, he gently lifted Frankie's chin so she was looking up at him, then kissed her deeply and, not that he would admit it to himself, with passion. He didn't care if she'd just tasted his cum, her tongue and lips were too inviting and, as his tongue played with hers, he couldn't deny that she still tasted pretty amazing despite what she'd just done for him. It was strange but this kissing thing was getting a little bit addictive, not that he'd dare admit it to anyone but himself. Frankie let Ed kiss her, not resisting him at all. In truth, she was starting to enjoy Ed's kisses and his surprisingly gentle touch. He was so sweet and actually tasted nice. It made a huge contrast compared to other men she'd been around who did drugs or smoked or drank a lot. Ed finally broke away and smiled at her. Frankie's gorgeous bluey purple eyes met his golden ones and the blush stayed firmly on her cheeks as she slowly stood up, "I best go clean this little mess up. I won't be long." she said, going back to the bathroom. Ed watched her as she walked away and felt an odd sense of pride when he saw a wet mark in her thong that was proof he'd managed to make her pussy wet.

Frankie cleaned herself up and composed herself, splashing cold water on her face, all the while wondering how the hell he had managed to turn her on anyway? She couldn't remember the last time anyone, male or female, had managed to turn her on enough to make her wet. She considered staying in the bathroom and playing with herself but decided against it. When she'd straightened herself out and left the room. By now Ed had cleaned himself up and pulled his pants back up and settled down in the bed. Frankie came out of the bathroom and walked over to the bed and got in on her side of the bed. Ed smiled at her as he'd watched her walk over, leaning up on his elbow. Frankie couldn't deny that, looking at him lying there with his torso exposed, leaning up, watching her with interest and that sweet charming smile on his lips, Ed was certainly handsome. For the first time since meeting Ed Frankie wondered if he had anyone special? Or did he at least have someone in mind? With his looks and gentlemanly ways Frankie didn't doubt that Ed could get pretty much any girl he liked, especially given his stature as the top scientist that Mr. Livingstone had said he was. It was a little disheartening for her to realise the difference between them and the many possibilities Ed had in comparison to her. With those thoughts her smile fell and she settled down in the bed. Ed saw her smile fade and couldn't help but wonder why though he couldn't ask. He sighed and pulled her close, cuddling her to his bare chest, his strong arms around her, keeping her close and occasionally kissing her head gently, trying to soothe any worries or fears that seemed to have arisen. Ed wasn't to know it had been caused by thoughts about him. Though her heart was racing again, Frankie did calm down in his arms and even slowly dared to put her hands against his chest.

With the storm still beating the buildings outside, but them tucked up safe and comfortable inside, they soon fell into a peaceful sleep... Edward, Frankie... oh, and Cat too who had taken to sleep at the foot of their bed without giving much thought to the humans.


	5. Chapter Four

The next morning Ed woke up and stretched out. He smiled as he found Frankie still in his arms beside him, sleeping peacefully. He remembered the night before, remembered how she'd been. He had expected her to get up and leave in the middle of the night or at least push him away but, as she hadn't, he decided that maybe what had made her smile fall hadn't been such a big deal after all. He settled down and just lay there for awhile, cuddling her and watching her as she slept. Cat got up from the end of the bed and padded his way over to the two humans. Ed glared as Cat walked along Frankie's body like it was a tightrope or something and tried to shoo him away. Cat just glared daggers at Ed and proceeded to lick Frankie's cheek gently. "Shhh!" Ed hissed at Cat. Cat gave him an indignant look and continued. Frankie screwed up her face, her nose wrinkling a little until she opened her eyes and looked from Ed, who was straight in front of her, to Cat, who was sat on her shoulder. "Mmm?" she muttered, waking up. "Good morning boys." she yawned sitting up, making Cat move to her lap and making Ed glare at Cat who was now rubbing himself around Frankie's torso and bust as Frankie fussed over him, "There's my sweet boy..." she uttered as Cat purred loudly like a lawnmower. "Edward, are you hungry?" Frankie asked with a smile. "I'm thinking a nice English breakfast today. You up for that?" she asked looking thoughtful. Ed smiled and nodded, he loved her cooking so was willing if not eager to try anything she made for him.

Frankie kissed Cat's head as he tried to nuzzle against her then put him on the floor beside the bed so she could get up. Ed watched Cat follow Frankie across the floor, weaving in and out from between her legs, his tail brushing against her legs and glancing back at Ed as though to purposefully see if he was tormenting the human male that had invaded his territory. Frankie didn't see the mutual silent aggression that was passing between the two males in the room so carried on. She put the kettle on to make the tea and coffee, as always and Ed was starting to think it really was just a British habit they were all naturally born with, and proceed to make the breakfast. He got up and made his way over to her, fed up of seeing the Cat get all her attention and affection, and watched her fry the bacon, tomatoes, sausages, eggs and put the baked beans in a pan beside to heat through. He watched with interest as he knew Al would probably want to learn to make this too. "It's not hard," Frankie started telling Ed as she cooked, "Just make sure you start cooking the sausages first because they take longer, then the bacon and tomatoes and the egg last." she smiled as she explained the method behind her 'madness'. Ed smiled back as he stood close to her. His smile wasn't only because she was trying to explain her reasoning for doing it the way she did but also and mainly because she was ignoring Cat, who was standing on his hind legs and trying to get her attention, while she spoke to Ed. Obviously, like most men that hung around Frankie, Cat only went to Frankie when he wanted something from her that would benefit him and Ed knew it. Frankie soon served up breakfast for him and herself and put two sausages cut up on a plate for Cat. Then the two young adults sat down on the large window sill to eat their breakfast. Ed couldn't help but glance across at Frankie, smiling as he ate.

"Well your problem seems to have calmed down." Frankie said as she finished, motioning slightly to Ed's nether regions. Ed glanced down as Frankie took the plates and found that she was right. The stiffness had finally calmed down and it was quite a relief for him. As Frankie did the washing up Ed wondered if he had really been turned on by Frankie or if it was the drug that had been in his system but as she glanced over her shoulder to smile at him he found himself smile back and his stomach flutter. "So, I was thinking that today, since the weather looks nice, we should venture out to the train station and see if we can find a reasonable route to take you and Alphonse back to where you all came from... What do you think?" Frankie asked as she finished washing up and turned to look at him. Ed shook his head once but smiled still. Frankie tilted her head and thought a little bit more. Ed found himself thinking about how cute she looked but his thoughts were disturbed as she spoke, "Do you mean...you want to go and see Alphonse before we do much more?" she asked curiously. Ed almost laughed as she guessed right and he found himself blush lightly as her eyes met his and she smiled back. "Well I'm going to get dressed. You should do the same." she advised as she now went to get out some clean clothes to wear and Ed went to get dressed himself in the bathroom to give her some privacy.

When he came out she was dressed in a casual suit of a black knee length skirt that ruffled out at the bottom, a white blouse open to show off her cleavage an wore a black leather jacket that was zipped up half way over the top of her blouse so that it emphasised her chest. It was love/hate for Ed as he loved how well it fit and suited her but hated how well it showed off her curves and how enticing it made her. "You look smart in your new clothes Edward!" she beamed as she pulled her heels on.

Ed was, indeed, wearing his new clothes that consisted of a pair of black trousers, his first actual pair in this colour since arriving on earth and the current peak of fashion, fresh from new York. This was worn with a simple white shirt with the usual braces to keep the pants up, apparently, and a simple jacket over the top. All of this was finished off with a pair of gorgeous (I'm biased) black Doc Marten boots that had a nice, natural shine to them.

Ed felt himself blush but smiled at her in thanks for her compliment. "Well, shall we be going?" she asked him. Cat got up from Frankie's bed, stretched and yawned then stalked over to the fire escape door. Frankie let him out as Ed got his coat. "You shouldn't need that today Ed, it's beautiful outside." Frankie said, putting her hand on his to stop him putting it on. Ed looked at her as she smiled and he put his coat back, hoping she was right as British weather could be very fickle.

As luck would have it, the weather outside was quite beautiful and even the breeze that fluttered by lazily was slightly warm and calm rather than the blustery random freezing cold and bitter way it usually was. Frankie had quickly put her hair up into a half pony tail before leaving the apartment, using a black ribbon to do so. Still she had to brush her long fringe back out of her eyes as they walked down the street, Frankie's heels making a somewhat enticing 'click clack click clack' on the pavement with each step she took and the ruffle on the edge of the skirt rising and falling with the air currents. Ed couldn't help but feel the same slightly obsessive feeling towards Frankie as he insisted on holding her hand as they walked along towards the hotel Ed's younger brother, Alphonse, was staying in with Roy Mustang, someone he preferred to avoid. Ed had forgotten about this last little detail until he saw the building loom up ahead and remembered just why he hadn't stayed there last night.

He felt sudden annoyance and irritation wash over him, the very type of feeling that came across him every single time he spotted the taller man with the black bed-head hair and still clean shaven face. Roy was dressed slightly similar to Ed as he preferred to be somewhat fashionable and show off his money that way but Al was in his usual choice of clothes, comfortable and easy to move in. The brothers hugged as they greeted one another with Al's usual battle-cry of "Big Brother!" not forgotten. Frankie just stood back trying to ignore how the tall black haired man was eyeing her up. She was used to it so didn't bat an eyelash but it was grating on Ed's nerves though he was trying to ignore it.

"So Ed, who's your new cute girlfriend? You do know that William is going to be pissed when he finds out right?" Roy chuckled as the brothers stepped back from their greeting. "I'm Frankie, please to meet you. And I'm no..." she had started to hold her hand out for Roy to shake but she was stopped short of saying 'I'm not his girlfriend' by Ed as he took her hand with his right one, put his left hand to her cheek to making her face him, then dropped her hand and pulled her into a hug with his right arm around her waist, his hand firm on her back, holding her close and kissed her passionately with no fucks given as to what anyone watching thought. Roy raised his brow and Al's jaw dropped slightly, this was something the little brother hadn't expected!

"Ok..." Al uttered as Ed broke off from kissing Frankie. Frankie just stood there in shock, not sure what to make of this. On one hand he had bought her time so she was his for the next few days so he could do pretty much what he wanted, and a kiss and embrace was by no means a 'big deal'... but still... this was just unexpected. What's more was the sudden overprotective aura Ed was giving off, with his arm around her waist that Frankie hadn't expected. But by far, the most unexpected thing to happen, that couldn't have been anticipated by either Ed or Frankie, was a sudden shout from behind Roy and Al, coming from inside the hotel and out towards the small group. "WHAT THE HELL?!" the angry voice shouted from the entrance to the hotel as it had moved outside.

Frankie glanced past Roy and saw a young man of about Ed's age with bright long blonde hair that was tied into a pony tail through a baseball hat and bright light blue eyes storm towards them at a brisk walk. He looked like a mechanic, judging from the look of the overalls and black tight tank top he was wearing, and the spanner in his hand. Frankie felt Ed shift beside her as though he was contemplating running away or hiding behind her.

"Hi William. Sorry we didn't wait inside for you." Al apologised to the young man but he seemed to ignore it. "And who the hell is this whore?!" William demanded, glaring daggers at Frankie.

Ed glared at William. William was this world's version of Winry. He was gay, obsessed with Ed, possessive of the brothers in general and, unfortunately for Ed, he was so far the only person able to do maintenance on his automail. This made their relationship difficult as Ed wasn't interested in him and it made Ed miss his worlds Winry as she couldn't hit him as hard with her spanner as William could.

"She's not a whore." Al said, speaking up for his big brother. "Her name is Frankie and she's a good friend of ours." he added. "Pfft, whatever. Still, what the hell do you think you're doing being all over my Eddy?!" William demanded, his hands on his hips. Frankie looked from Ed, who was still glaring at William, to William, who was glaring at her. "Erm... well I'm not." she said slowly. It was true, Ed was holding her but she wasn't holding him. "Then, do tell, what ARE you doing?!" William snapped angrily. "Standing last time I checked." Frankie said simply. William practically growled in anger but Roy put his hand on William's shoulder, "Isn't it amazing? Ed's finally found someone he loves! Imagine what the papers will say when they find out that Ed isn't asexual!" he said with a smile.

Ed blushed slightly but took advantage of Roy's statement and hugged Frankie close defensively as though to prove Roy right. Frankie wasn't sure what to say as, although she knew she wasn't in a relationship with Ed, he seemed to want to at least let them believe that they were. Since her job was to make him happy while he had her time she stayed silent as it was what he wanted. Why he wanted it was beyond her but she decided against asking.

William didn't seem impressed at all though but let the argument drop. He grabbed hold of Ed's right hand and pulled it up. Ed panicked from the sudden movement from William and gripped hold of Frankie tightly with his left arm in fear of being dragged off. "I'm amazed this is still working! It's so dented, what did you do? I told you to be careful with it! Its a delicate precision machine. You should be careful with it!" William started scolding Ed just the way Winry used to.

Ed sighed heavily and rested his head on Frankie's shoulder, his hold of her relaxing slightly as William tinkered with his arm. "Who last tampered with this? It's basic and rustic but its quite incredible that they managed to fix it at all... What did you do to it?" he asked.

"Frankie fixed it and the least he did was fall on it but we don't know for sure." Al explained. William stared from Al to Frankie and back to Ed's arm. "Well thanks for taking good care of him for me." he said grumpily. "Yeah, no problem, any time." Frankie muttered shyly. "Don't think yourself special, he doesn't need you 'any time'." William snapped irritably. Frankie's cheeks went light pink but she looked away, deciding against saying anything. Ed couldn't say anything but it didn't stop him glaring daggers at William and pulling his arm away from the mechanic.

William scowled but let him go bitterly, "Well it's working but I'd still prefer to bring you back to my garage to fix it up." he said. Ed shook his head. "And why aren't you talking anyway Eddy?" he asked. "Ed was given something when he was out that's affected his speech." Al explained. "I see...so where does SHE come into this?" William demanded. "She has a name. And Frankie found Ed after his accident and has been taking wonderful care of him." Al stated as Ed cuddled Frankie again defensively. Frankie glanced at him and smiled softly, glad he took comfort in her despite William's attitude.

"So where are you two going today?" Roy asked to break the awkward silence that had fallen. "I was thinking of taking Ed out to the train station on the outskirts of the city so he'll be able to decide on what he wants to do next. It should make planning ahead easier for him." Frankie said honestly. "Sounds like a good plan." Al agreed, glad for the change of topic. Ed smiled and nodded, agreeing with his brother. "Well if that's were you guys are going, how about I drop you off on my way out of the city?" William offered. "I only came out here because Alphonse warned me that you might need fixing up but I see that you've got it covered." he added in a slight huff. "I would really appreciate it..." Frankie started saying in thanking him but William raised his hand to stop her. "I'm doing this strictly for Eddy. You're just lucky to be invited by association." William stated as he got his keys out. "I know exactly what you are... whore." he added in a whisper as he walked past towards his American pick up truck.

Frankie sighed slightly, "Well, we should get going if we're going to make it back in time for dinner." she said and Ed nodded. He followed after William to the truck that was waiting nearby, leading Frankie along by her hand, a soft smile on his face. Even though it was, for the most part, just for show to keep Roy off her and William off himself, Roy couldn't help but feel happy around Frankie. William was such hard work and Roy was equally difficult but somehow she made it bearable even if one of the men thought of her as a sex toy and the other wanted her dead.

"Hey! You guys should come back here for dinner! My treat!" Al shouted after them. Ed turned and nodded. Al was slowly stepping out of his older brothers shadow and it showed in his pay check each month as he wasn't too far off what Ed earned himself. "Alright, we'll try not to be too late! Is around Six ok?" Frankie asked. Al nodded, "Yeah see you guys then!" he beamed. Ed held the door to the van for Frankie like a true gentleman would and, once she was in the middle seat, he got in himself too. This wasn't the way William had wanted them to sit. He had wanted Ed to sit beside him but he only grumbled to himself as he started the engine and the old truck growled loudly as it came to life and they set off. Frankie gave William the directions which he followed, but otherwise they were as silent as Ed had been for the past few days. Ed, on the other hand, kept a hand on one of Frankie's thighs in what he hoped was a comforting way for her and looked like a possessive way to William. It was about time William learned the meaning of 'I'm not interested in you' and if he could make him lean by using Frankie then, by all means, he was going to put her too good use! Frankie found Ed's behaviour odd but figured that he must have a reason for acting this way so she let it pass without complaint.

Their arrival at the train station couldn't have come soon enough and Ed had the door open and his seat belt off before the truck had even stopped. He jumped out and turned back to help Frankie out, again, acting the part of the gentleman. William continued to glare daggers at Frankie though, "Just remember Edward, she'll never be as good as I am!" he stated loftily. Ed scowled back at William but he just slammed the truck's door shut and pulled Frankie close as he watched the truck, carrying his mechanic, out of the city and found that he didn't feel even the least bit sorry for how he had behaved. Frankie, on the other hand frowned at him, "What the devil has gotten into you today Ed?" she asked as she looked at him curiously. Ed found himself blush and he strode over towards the train station in an attempt to brush off her question and hide his blush from her.

"Eh, Ed! Edward!" Frankie called as she rushed after him, her heels clicking on the cobbles. "Lets check the times and get out of here ok?" she asked as she caught up to him and took hold of his arm in a slightly nervous way. Ed frowned, not knowing or understanding what she had seen that had worried her so much but he couldn't ask her anyway so he tried to ignore it. If it was so important then surely she would tell him... right?

Together they headed onto the platform and looked at the hand painted train time table for the week. Even though she was illiterate, Frankie could understand numbers and time. She also knew from previous visits that the schedule started on a Sunday so, by process of elimination, today was Wednesday so that was the fourth column along. She quickly trailed her finger along to find the right time for the day. "When are you wanting to leave?" she asked. Ed frowned slightly, Frankie was acting quite nervous and it worried him but he put his finger on the spot where she had hers and trailed it along... Thursday... Friday... and stopped on Saturday. Frankie looked from where her finger was, over to Eds, "... So... Saturday?" she said slowly. Ed nodded with a slightly sad smile. "I see..." she sighed then looked up past Ed and her hand slipped from the spot on 'Wednesday' and took his hand from Saturday. In that same movement in taking his hand she also turned and quickly started walking back the way they came. Ed was left completely lost.

Fortunately the feeling didn't last long, "Edward, we need to get out of here right now." she said in little more than a whisper. Once they were walking out of the station she removed her leather jacket and handed it to Ed, "Put this on ok?" she said as she looked around the entrance. Spotting an unattended motorbike, Frankie took Ed's hand again and lead him over to it. Ed had only just managed to put her jacket on. He had wanted to protest but he literally couldn't complain and, what's more, he liked the thought of having something she'd worn so close to his body... it was still warm and smelt deliciously of her... not that he would admit this to anyone other than himself... and even admitting it to himself was a push!

Ed felt really nervous as Frankie checked the bike over and found the key still in the ignition. Finally she got on and started the engine, "Come on. Move it or loose it Ed. We've got to go. I'll explain as we drive ok?" she told him. Ed frowned to show he didn't approve of her stealing... though Frankie would insist it was 'borrowing without permission with only a slight intention of returning it'. But Finally Ed got on behind her and held on tight around her waist. He'd never really liked bikes much but he was quite worked up by now so was almost a nervous wreck as he put his hand on her waist. "Hold tight! Frankie warned as she revved the bike and they set off. Ed only just managed to glance back and see a group of between seven and ten men leaving the station and watching Ed and Frankie as they left.

Ed tapped Frankie's shoulder. "I'll tell you ok, but first put this on ok?" she asked, handing him the only helmet available. Ed took it but didn't put it on just yet as she took them further away from the train station. "Those guys, they're like a rival gang to my 'boss'." She explained. "Since I'm pretty... well... valuable... if they kill me or whatever then they get a one up on my boss." she explained. "Ed, please. Don't make me beg you? Just put it on please?" she asked, glancing back at him slightly. Ed sighed but still scowled as he put the helmet on as she requested. He hated that he was wearing something to protect himself but she wasn't... she must have a huge ego or think very highly of herself and trust her abilities otherwise she wouldn't be so keen on being so reckless... would she? ... that was the reason for this right?

In the silence that followed as they drove Ed thought hard as to why Frankie was doing what she was... like with the helmet but mostly as to why she insisted he wore her jacket? Hearing a loud Vroom, Ed snapped out of his thoughts and glanced back the way they had come. He found himself grip tighter onto Frankie as he saw the men, mostly on bikes but also following in a car, casing after them. And, what's more is they were armed with guns.

Ed held tighter as Frankie leaned into the corners to bring the bike round them. By the time they were a couple of miles away from the train station and riding through the edge of the forest that he'd seen from the top of Mr. Livingstone's building, Ed decided that he really quiet enjoyed bikes but, in this set of circumstances, he hated it. Frankie was going too fast and, now that the men behind were catching up, they were shooting at them too!

"Ed! Loosen your grip ok? Put your hands on my shoulders! It'll make things easier!" Frankie managed to shout back to him over the roar of the engine, the growling of the car and bikes behind them and the sound of the gunfire. So far she'd managed to evade all bullets that came their way but Ed was worried that they couldn't run forever.

As it turned out, he was right in thinking so too as Frankie suddenly tensed from seeing something ahead. Ed peered over her shoulder and saw that, quite a way ahead, a huge tree had fallen onto the path. Then matters got worse. A gun fired from behind them and there was an almighty BANG as the back tire blew. It was now that Ed got chance to see why Frankie had made him wear the helmet. Her hands were firmly pressed onto the breaks but nothing was happening. The break lines had been cut. Now it was obvious why this had all been so easy. It had been a trap and Frankie had known it from the start.

The only fortunate thing about being thrown from anything, whether it's a helicopter, an auto-mobile or out of a restaurant, is that any thoughts or doubts you were having are suddenly gone in the blink of an eye and replaced with 'oh shit'. That's exactly what Ed found himself thinking as Frankie tried to bring the bike to a stop by turning it slightly to the side and pressing both her feet to the floor. The result of which was that they collided with the fallen tree and were thrown forwards, over the tree. 'Oh shit!' Ed thought as all he heard from Frankie was a sharp intake of breath. Ed landed not far from the fallen tree but Frankie was thrown considerably further, her body rolling limply and somewhat lifelessly. All Ed could do was lie there and try to put the pieces of what had happened back together as he stared at Frankie, silently willing her to move, to get up and run or to at least give a sign that she was alive.

Ed heard the engines stop behind the tree and the doors to the car open and slam shut. Ed closed his eyes and begged them to just turn around and walk away... but they didn't. Ed counted ten men walk past him wearing black leather jackets and all wearing helmets except for the four that had been in the car.

"Looks like the little bitch is out cold ... What should we do?" one of the men asked openly. "Well the boss wants us to bring her back to him at the club... But he did say we could do what we want." another said. "Does it matter if she's dead?" a third asked a little worried. "Na. He said it's cool if she's dead, remember?" the second speaker replied and the others nodded. "She's so expensive for a whore... Think she's worth it?" another asked. "No idea but she is cute. I think we should find out." the second person spoke again with a smirk. Clearly he was the ringleader in this little pack and possibly second in command under the pimp. All the while they were talking Ed was willing Frankie to move. To do something. For anything to happen so that someone would help her. Someone had to help her!

Seeing Frankie's body move slightly Ed realised there was no one else. Frankie didn't have anyone she could rely on. He felt stupid for only just realising this now as he'd seen it before when Frankie had been attacked in Mr. Livingstone's office. He hadn't understood at the time but now he did and, as he witnessed the awful truth faced before him, Ed felt a sudden anger swell up inside.

Without a further thought he threw his hands together and slammed his palms to the earth with only one thing on his mind; protecting the girl that was slowly started to mean so much to him. He wasn't expecting anything to happen, all he wanted was to stop them, to keep them from hurting someone so special to him. So needless to say he was amazed as to what happened next.

The ground underneath them trembled, the tarmac groaned and cracks started splitting across the road before him, snaking out from under his hands and shooting underneath the feet of the men and stopped just before Frankie. The earth suddenly shot up in front of her and formed a crude but reasonably high wall of ground.

Had Ed not been so shocked that his alchemy had worked he would have been almost pissing himself laughing at the reactions of the men. Several had fallen back onto their arses but whether on their arse or stood up, they all wore the same expression on complete and utter disbelief mixed with a reasonable sized helping of shock and a dash of horror. "W...what the fuck?!" the ringleader stammered as they all moved back a step or two. Ed managed to get himself together and staggered to his feet then walked slowly towards Frankie and past the men. "Hey! You! What the fuck do you think...?" the ringleader snapped at Ed but Ed cut him short as he clapped his hands together and pressed his hand to the wall as he passed it. A huge fist formed and thrust out of the wall, again made of the earth but also with some tarmac, and knocked the ringleader flying backwards towards the fallen tree. Well, that was enough to make the whole group scramble and run for it in terror at Edward's 'wizardry'.

Ed couldn't help but grin as he watched them then turned to face Frankie. He found she was awake now and was sitting up, watching him through the mess of black hair that was the result of being thrown. There was a cut across her face meaning that she was watching him through one eye as the cut crossed her other eye. Blood had poured from the cut as it crossed her eyebrow and dripped into her open end so she could hardly see. Ed smiled, thrilled to see that she was ok but Frankie didn't seem to feel the same way as she slowly got to her feet, holding her left arm which she had fallen onto. Ed took a couple of steps towards her but stopped. The reason he stopped was because of Frankie's reaction. She ran.

It was something Ed hadn't expected. Sure she could hardly see him and, ok, so seeing alchemy without understanding it or seeing it before could be scary but she knew Ed wouldn't hurt her. Then it hit him. She didn't know it was him. How could she? He had still been wearing his helmet. He slowly pulled the helmet off as he watched her run off into the woods. It took Ed a moment to take it all in. He felt hurt seeing her run away from him but he understood her reasoning. He gave her a moment as he looked around at the area that was now so peaceful. He calmed down and slowly started walking after Frankie while he started to really think about how he felt and what had happened.

About half way down the line he found one of Frankie's heels which he guessed she had lost with thanks to trying to stop the bike. He guessed that she'd taken them off but he felt awful that it had come to this and worse as he thought about the cut across her face. He shook his head and seriously started looking for Frankie. As he walked it slowly occurred to him that since his first attempt at speaking when he'd met Frankie he hadn't even tried to speak since. Now seemed as good a time as ever to give it a try as he had a reason to speak up. He tried a few times but the most he managed was a growl as opposed to any audible or understandable words, what's more is that it left his throat feeling like he'd swallowed rusty razor blades whole washed down with a pint of vinegar and pure fresh lemon juice and salt. He quickly gave up as he decided to give it more time. That and he had finally found what he had been looking for; a small trail leading off the road that had recently been disturbed. This wasn't the first time Ed had found his survival lessons learned on the small island in the middle of the lake in Dublith... and it almost certainly wouldn't be the last time either. He didn't have to walk much further before he came across a large oak tree. He slowly walked round it and, exactly as he had thought, founded Frankie.

She was sat on a thick root and had brushed her hair from her face. By her side were her shoes, one of which was missing a heel, and her feet were bare, exactly as he had thought. She was still holding her left arm to support it and Ed could see that, from the way it hung, it was just dislocated. He knelt down beside her and put his hand on her shoulder gently. It made her jump but she looked at Ed in surprise, "Ed! There you are! I was so worried!" she exclaimed, making him smile. His smile grew as she let go of her arm and embraced him. He finally admitted to himself that he did, indeed, have feelings for her though he knew he wouldn't dare tell another soul... at least not until he had found out if she felt the same way about him.

"I was so worried! I'm so sorry! I just left you back there! I'm such a horrid person... I put you in such danger! I'm so sorry." she said as she held him. Ed found himself hug her back, doing his best to comfort her. "Are you alright? You aren't hurt are you? They didn't hurt you did they?" she asked sniffing slightly from feeling upset. She moved back slightly, releasing him from her hug, and studied his face, her hand gently touching his skin as she tried to determine if he was injured. Ed smiled at her lovingly as his gaze stayed fixed on her eyes. She was hurt and yet she was more concerned with him. Finally she stopped checking him for injuries as his gaze caught her eyes and his golden eyes held her gaze. Ed continued to smile and slowly a smile found it's way to her lips. "I'm so glad you're ok, I was so worried." she uttered, closing her eyes and putting her forehead against his in relief.

Ed let her have a moment to relax and calm down and just enjoyed the moment of quiet himself before gently putting his hand on her left arm. She let out a slight hiss of pain and looked at Ed. He kissed her cheek by way of apology and smiled as he saw it made her blush. "I'm sorry... I'm a bit of a mess... Not exactly fit to be seen with you." she said softly. Ed shook his head and stood up, using his fingers to beckon her to stand too while holding her right hand to support her. Frankie slowly stood up. Ed picked up her shoes for her and knelt down with his back to her. "Ed? What are you doing?" she asked curiously. Ed looked back at her and patted his back. Frankie just look confused so he took her right hand and draped it over his shoulder with his back to her. "You... You want to give me a lift?" she asked. Ed nodded. Frankie laughed softly, "Well, ok but put me down if I'm too heavy for you. Alright?" she asked. Ed smiled and nodded. With that, Ed managed to get her on his back, her skirt had rode up her legs and Ed found himself blushing hard as he realised this when his hands held onto her bare, warm, silky soft skin.

Frankie held her body tight to his back but just draped her arms over his shoulders, her left hand dangling and her right arm wrapped around him. She rested her head on his shoulder, facing him. Ed found himself smiling like a school boy as he felt her breath on his neck. He walked back the way they had come content with the comfortable silence. It was strange to find himself so comfortable with someone other than his brother and even more since she was nothing like him and since they couldn't even hold a conversation. Al was right, it seemed that when Ed could talk he just messed up any potential relationship or friendship with anyone. This thought worried him greatly as he walked. It soon occurred to him that if he could talk when he'd met Frankie he wouldn't be with her right now and, an even more worrying thought, what if she didn't like him when he finally found her voice? That thought hurt him considerably and he decided to keep from even trying to talk around her.

Frankie must have noticed his change in mood as she soon tugged on his jacket, "Ed, how about we get a lift back to the city?" she asked, motioning to a car that was coming down the road. Ed nodded and gently let her down. Frankie flagged the car down and spoke to the driver, flickering her hair back. She turned to Ed, "He'll give us a lift into town!" she told Ed with a smile. Ed walked over and they both got into the back. Ed hated how the man was continuously staring at Frankie but Frankie either didn't notice or didn't care as she sat beside Ed quite happily.

When the car stopped Ed made sure she got out first and stood defensively close as she thanked the driver again and waved as he drove away. Ed frowned at her. "What's wrong now?" She asked innocently. Obviously Ed didn't reply so she persisted with the usual follow up of "What?". Truth was Ed was annoyed that she was being so nice, on the verge of flirtatious, just because he gave them a free ride into the city. Of course Frankie wasn't to know this though and Ed couldn't answer... not that he wanted to even if he could after all the thinking he'd been doing. Frankie sighed as Ed just shook his head and she walked with him into the city centre. Once back among people in the crowded street, Ed held Frankie's right hand again as they walked along and headed back towards Frankie's place so she could straighten herself out and clean up for dinner later. It was amazing how much time they had spent literally rushing around earlier, they had completely missed lunch but for once Ed's stomach didn't recognise what it had missed out on as he was still busy thinking about earlier. He was so busy thinking about things that it was only when Frankie tugged on his hand that he realised that they were already there.

He looked up at the huge building as Frankie opened the door, "Well, are you going to stay outside all day?" she asked with a smile. Ed snapped out of his daydream and shook his head. He smiled and followed her inside and back upstairs to her apartment. Once inside her studio apartment Frankie dug out a new set of clothes to wear and Ed got his clean clothes out to change into as the fall had dirtied his clean clothes. Ed caught her hand before she went into the bathroom to change. "Ed?" she asked. He took her into the bathroom and pushed her gently so she sat down on the toilet lid and took one of the clean face cloths, dampened it slightly in cold water and started gently dabbing her forehead where the cut was to clean it and remove the dried blood. He was glad to see that the cut wasn't deep and that it would probably heal without a scar or at least one that wasn't noticeable. Frankie sat perfectly still as he helped her, "Thank you Ed... you take such good care of me." she said softly when he'd finished. Ed just smiled softly then put a gentle hand on her left arm, his smile falling as she flinched slightly in pain. "I'm sorry... it hurts." she sighed, staring at her shoulder. Ed pointed at his right shoulder, where the automail joint was, and then at her left shoulder that was dislocated, hoping she'd understand. As lunch would have it, she did. "You... want pop it back into the socket?" she asked softly, looking slightly worried herself. Ed smiled, trying to look confident, and nodded. She looked more uncertain but finally nodded, "Ok... do what you have to... I trust you." she uttered, closing her eyes and preparing for the pain.

Ed kissed her cheek and stood at her side, holding her almost exactly the same way she had held him when she'd reattached his automail arm when they had first met. He kissed her cheek again as he tried to be as gentle as he could and managed to wiggle the joint back into the socket. She whimpered at first then screamed in pain, her right hand held onto his arm and she ended up biting her lip to try to keep from screaming too much but it just resulted in making her lip bleed. Once her arm was back in the socket Ed pulled her into a hug and tried to comfort her as the tears were dripping down her cheeks from the pain. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her but he knew that if he had taken her to hospital then the doctors would have just done the same as he had. When she had calmed down Ed let her go, kissed her forehead and left her to get dressed in the bathroom and went to get changed in the front room himself.

Frankie finally came out of the bathroom looking much better. She was wearing a cute cocktail dress in black and white with a new pair of fresh tights and she had tied her hair up with a ribbon. Ed smiled broadly, approving of her change. "As dashing as ever." Frankie winked at him, making Ed blush. He was dressed in his usual suit and trousers with suspenders as was common for the era now so it wasn't anything special. Ed finished tying his boots and offered Frankie his hand which she happily accepted once she had a suitable pair of heels on. He smiled at her and they set off to Al and Roy's hotel for dinner. Al was waiting outside the hotel for them. "Wow you two look great!" he smiled, greeting them with a huge grin. "Sorry, we're late aren't we?" Frankie apologised, bowing slightly. "No, it's no problem. Roy's already gone ahead to the restaurant over there." he said, pointing to the beautiful building over the road. "Ready when you are then." Al added with a smile. "Yeah we're ready." Frankie agreed as Ed nodded. Al smiled back and they set off across the road. A man in a suit held open the door to the restaurant for them and they went inside to join Roy who was sat at a table for four. Once they were all seated a waiter handed them a menu each. Frankie looked a little worried but Al, already guessing the problem, leaned across to look. He made it seem like they were talking about what looked good, covering up that he was having to explain to her what was on the menu.

Roy picked out a good wine and Al ordered for himself and Frankie then Ed and Roy ordered too. They sat and talked about polite nothingness as they waited for their drinks to be served. Frankie had chosen water again, obviously Roy wanted Wine and Al and Ed had chosen soft drinks... namely Cola which they had tried in Germany first. As usual, Frankie was being watched by various men around them and it made Ed sit close to her in a defensive way. "So... pray, do tell us Eddo, what's up with this?" Roy asked, waving vaguely at his closeness to Frankie. Ed rolled his eyes as the waiter brought their dinner over. Ed had chosen stake and ale pie with a side of chips and steamed veg. Roy had gone for steak and thick cut chips... the stake was blue much to Frankie's surprise. Al had decided on fish and chips, a British classic! And Frankie had chosen spaghetti bolognese with plenty of Parmesan cheese.

But Roy didn't let it go, even though they were now eating, and pushed a notebook over to Ed with a pen, "Spill it short stuff." he snapped. Ed scowled but he started to write and pushed the paper back at Ed then started eating in a slightly annoyed way. Roy read it and glared at Ed then pushed the paper to Al. Al read it, whispering what he was reading for Frankie's benefit, "Call me short again and I'll take the candelabra from the table and shove the whole thing up your ass so far that the flames from the candles will burn your tonsils." he said then laughed. Frankie giggled too. "I'd like to see you try." Roy glared at Ed. Ed took the paper back, wrote something down and passed it back to Al to read, which he did, "I daren't because I know you'd like it so much you'd keep begging me to do it over and over and, to be honest, I'd rather not. You might bend that way but I don't." Al read out and giggled softly as Ed stuck his tongue out. Roy growled but let it go and started eating. They were soon all eating happily in a comfortable silence. When it came to dessert, Frankie decided to give it a miss. Ed chose to do the same. "Well, I guess we'll call it a night then." Al said having paid for the meal. "Yes, we'll be heading back too." Frankie agreed, "Thank you so much for the meal Alphonse, It was wonderful." Frankie thanked him. Ed bowed slightly in thanks also. "Oh, it's nothing. take care guys!" Al said. "Have fun you guys! Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" Roy called, teasing them. Ed glared daggers for that but Frankie ignored his comment and just waved, "Night Roy, Night Al. See you tomorrow." she said as Roy and Al went into their hotel. Frankie sighed and turned to Ed, shall we go back now?" she asked. Ed nodded and took her hand with a gentle smile and they started walking back to her home.

As always, Ed held Frankie's hand defensively all the way back. "You know I should probably learn to read and write... that way, when you move back home we can keep in touch by writing." she said with a smile. Ed sighed a little but nodded. He didn't want to think about leaving her. Not now. Frankie let them back into the apartment, turned the lamp on and kicked her shoes off at the front door. "Wow... today has been pretty intense and over all insane hasn't it?" she said with a sigh of relief as Ed shut the door behind himself and removed his boots while Frankie started to make herself a cup of tea and Ed a black coffee. Ed nodded in agreement with her statement and sat on the edge of her bed as she brought over his coffee along with her tea and sat beside him. They sat in silence and just relaxed, drinking their hot drinks and just unwinding. Frankie was right. Today had been insane and had given him so much to think about too whether he wanted to think about it or not.

"I'm going to go get changed for bed then we should try to get some sleep ok?" Frankie asked. Ed yawned a little and nodded. Frankie finished her tea and put the cup in the sink then went into the bathroom to change and brush her teeth. Ed stopped drinking his coffee to change into his pyjamas and then finished his coffee. He was just putting it in the sink when she came out of the bathroom. She smiled at him as he passed her on his way into the bathroom to use the toilet and to brush his teeth too. He still got a weird feeling in his stomach from seeing his toothbrush next to hers in the holder on the sink. He wondered how Frankie would feel about him if he could talk to her... would she have even taken him in that night when she'd found him? And would she have even let him stay? There were so many questions... so many things he didn't know and wanted to ask but couldn't and was now too afraid to even try to ask himself. The best and worst had happened today. He'd realised how he had felt about Frankie but the price he'd paid was huge... it consisted of how she might feel about him if he could talk to her and also in the realisation that he now had a deadline of when he would be leaving her on the train out of the dirty grey city.

When he finally came out of the bathroom Frankie was already in bed. She was on her side of the bed but had already fallen asleep as she'd waited for him. Ed found himself smile as he turned the lights off and got in beside her. He couldn't remember smiling this much with anyone else around him except for Al but that was different as Al had always been by his side since... well... since Al had been born basically. Ed shook these thoughts from him mind though and cuddled up to Frankie and let himself fall asleep with her in his arms, something he was quickly growing fond of doing.


End file.
